The history of the ensemble dates back to 1991, when a group of young people decided to form a choir. They called it, provocatively and a little out of spite, Dysonans (Dissonance). This name has survived to the present day and is a kind of motto of the ensemble, as dissonance is not only a term for a musical phenomenon, but also for tension, energy intensifying emotions. Since the beginning, the conductor of the Dysonans Chamber Choir has been Professor Magdalena Wdowicka-Mackiewicz, pedagogue and director of the Institute of Conducting at the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań.
The ensemble works at the Association for the Promotion of Culture Cantamen. It gives concerts in almost all European countries and takes part in the most prestigious international choral competitions. The ensemble’s most recent achievements are Grand Prix and a special award for the performance of a work by a Polish composer at the 17th Kazimierz Fober International Festival of Choirs “Gaude Cantem” in Bielsko-Biała in October 2022; 1st prize in the sacred music category, 1st prize in the folk category and 1st prize in the Catalan music category at the 11th “Cançò mediterrània” International Choral Festival – Barcelona – Lloret de Mar in September 2022; 1st prize and special prize for the best performance of an early music piece at the 21st F. Nowowiejski International Choral Music Festival in Barczewo, Poland in June 2022; 1st Prize in the Baroque category, 2nd Prize in the Renaissance category and a special prize for the programme of highest artistic merit at the 55th Concorso Internazionale di Canto Corale Seghizzi Gorizia in 2016, as well as a participation in the close final of the 2017 London International A Cappella Choir Competition organised by Peter Phillips, director of The Tallis Scholars.
In April 2018, the choir travelled to South America, where it took part in the XII Festival Internacional de Música Renacentista y Barroca Americana ‘Misiones de Chiquitos’ in Bolivia and was the only Central European ensemble to perform works in indigenous Indian languages. In 2019, the choir participated in the International Congress of Biblical Scholars in Rome, where it provided musical accompaniment for the Mass in St Peter’s Basilica and sang a concert in the Church of St Ignatius.
Thanks to the aforementioned Grand Prix of the Kazimierz Fober International Choir Festival “Gaude Cantem” in Bielsko-Biała, alongside four other ensembles, Dysonans performed at the fourth edition of the Stefan Stuligrosz Grand Prix of Polish Choral Music in Poznań in November 2022. The choir’s most recent recording is Ring Christmas Bells, released in 2021.