Rafał Łuc, PhD, MMus (Hons), BMus (Hons) LRAM (b. 21/12/1987 in Wrocław, Poland),

graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London (Prof. Owen Murray), Musikene Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco in San SebasRán (Prof. Iñaki Alberdi), and the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław (dr. hab. Zbigniew Łuc), where he currently holds a professorial teaching position.

His active concert career began at the age of ten. At fifteen, he made his debut as a soloist with the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, and in May 2004 he performed with orchestras in Malmö and Copenhagen.
Rafał made his London debut in January 2009 at the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre. The Times praised his performance as that of "a highly mature artist who performs with deep engagement, showing off all the potential of his instrument" (Neil Fisher). While studying in the UK, he performed at major venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields, Barbican, King's Place, Royal Albert Hall in London, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, and Colston Hall in Bristol. He also appeared multiple times at Wigmore Hall as a finalist in the Young Concert Artists Trust and Patron’s Award, and played at Symphony Hall in Birmingham with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra from St. Petersburg.

In April 2011, he made his U.S. debut at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall. In June 2011, he recorded an album for Universal Music Korea with cellist Hau-Eun Kim, featuring works by Bach and Piazzolla.
Rafał is a member of Duo van Vliet with violist Rafał Zalech and co-founder of Ensemble Kompopolex, an ensemble specialising in contemporary music. He has collaborated with numerous ensembles, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Opera House, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, London Sinfoniena, Black Page Orchestra, Chroma, Rambert Dance Company, Nash Ensemble, Riot Ensemble, and many contemporary composers, contribuRng to the development of new repertoire for classical accordion

Rafał has participated in masterclasses with leading musicians including Friedrich Lips, Matti Rantanen, Mika Väyrynen, Claudio Jacomucci, and Vojin Vasović. As a soloist and orchestral musician, he has worked with conductors such as Pierre-André Valade, Baldur Brönnimann, Lionel Bringuier, Christopher Austin, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Łukasz Borowicz, Szymon Bywalec, Maciej Koczur, and Marek Moś. His performances have been broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and Polish Radio 2.

For his artistic achievements, he has received scholarships from the Polish Ministry of Culture, the Crescendum Est–Polonia Foundation, the Solti Foundation, Help Musicians UK, and the Craxton Memorial Trust.
In 2015, he released his debut solo album acc++ca, featuring works for accordion and electronics. In June 2017, Duo van Vliet released their debut CD Lachrymae ReVisited on the Orchid Classics label, which was nominated for the New Music Recording of the Year award by New MusicScotland. In 2022, a live recording of Julius Eastman’s Evil Nigger was released on vinyl (shared with the Ardip Quartet). He has also recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios for Joby Talbot’s soundtrack to Vampyr, and appeared in a Sky Arts programme performing with Paraorchestra, an ensemble partly composed of musicians with disabilities.

Rafał has given masterclasses at institions including Hochschule für Musik Detmold (Germany), Academy of Music in Lublana (Slovenia), Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias (Las Palmas), the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia), Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, and the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk. He has also lectured at Musikene in San Sebastián and given composer seminars at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona.

In the 2017/18 season, Rafał was Artist-in-Residence with the New Music Orchestra in Katowice.
Rafał plays Pigini Nova accordion made for special order.