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The 9th edition of the Polish Music Community Award "Coryphaeus of Polish Music" has officially started. Nomination forms for candidates can be submitted in the categories: "Personality of the Year", "Event of the Year" and "Honorary Award", as well as in the "Discovery of the Year" category for debuting artists, until 10 September 2019 through the website www.koryfeusz.org.pl.

Since 2011, Polish music community has awarded the "Coryphaeus of Polish Music" award to its most prominent representatives. The award is organized by the Institute of Music and Dance. "Coryphaeus" is a distinction for people, groups of artists and institutions operating in the area of ​​Polish music. The award is granted for achievements in the last artistic season, with the exception of the "Honorary Award", which is awarded for overall activity. Applications can be submitted by members of the community.

The winners in the categories "Personality of the Year", "Event of the Year" and "Honorary Award" are selected in a secret ballot by the Electoral College. It consists of rectors of music academies and universities, directors of musicology and music institutes, music journalists, representatives of unions and organizations, as well as all winners who have been awarded in all categories. The award in the "Discovery of the Year" category is granted based on the results of open voting from the audience, which will take place between 16 and 19 September at www.koryfeusz.org.pl.

Winners will be announced during the Awards Gala on 1 October 2019. They will receive statuettes by Professor Adam Myjak as well as financial awards funded by ZAiKS Authors' Association and STOART Performing Artists' Union.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

The rules and regulations are available at: www.koryfeusz.org.pl 

Orchestral and chamber concerts, workshops, meetings and other events accompanying the 20th anniversary edition of the AUKSO Summer Philharmonic will take place in the Suwałki region between 16 and 22 August 2019.

Among the invited artists there will be cellist Andrzej Bauer, winner of the German Record Critics' Award, opera singer Tomasz Konieczny and chamber musicians from the Alternative Ensemble. The artists will be accompanied by the musicians of the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy conducted by Marek Moś. The festival programme will mark an important anniversary for the world of culture and art – bicentenary of the birth of Stanisław Moniuszko, the father of Polish national opera. Next to classical compositions by Wolfgang Amadeusz Mozart or Piotr Czajkowski, the repertoire will include contemporary works by Tadeusz Baird and Krzesimir Dębski.

The festival will be inaugurated on 16 August with a concert dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. During the final concert on 22 August, soloist Kasia Moś accompanied by the musicians of the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy under the direction of Marek Moś will present new compositions announcing her next album, as well as songs from the album "Inspination", works by Krzesimier Dębski and ...  Stanisław Moniuszko.

Andrzej Bauer will lead the workshops and masterclasses for young cellists from Emil Młynarski State School of Music in Suwałki. There will be also meetings with Krzesimir Dębski, Marek Moś and Andrzej Strumiłło.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://soksuwalki.eu/xx-letnia-filharmonia-aukso-wigry-2019/ 

Polish Youth Orchestra LYO (Lutoslawski Youth Orchestra) will perform on 16 August 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the concert hall of the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic. Young musicians under the direction of Adrián Varela will start the concert with The Fairytale fantastic overture by Stanisław Moniuszko.

The programme will also include virtuoso Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 8 by Mieczysław Karłowicz, peformed by the outstanding Polish violinist Janusz Wawrowski on the violin built in 1685 by Antonio Stradivari. In the finale, the Polish Youth Orchestra will present Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Piotr Czajkowski.

The Polish Youth Orchestra LYO is the largest and the only nationwide orchestra for second-grade music school students. Every year, the artistic director of the orchestra travels around the country searching for the most talented young musicians, who are distinguished by their talent and enormous passion for music. In cooperation with the famous Philharmonia Orchestra from London and the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic, a group of musicians focused on gaining professional skills will meet in Olsztyn on 10-17 August. This year's teching staff is composed of well-renowned artists: Adrián Varela, Desmond Neysmith, Carsten Williams, Laurent Ben Slimane and Jan Regulski.

More information at: https://filharmonia.olsztyn.pl/koncert/polska-orkiestra-mlodziezowa-lyo-2/ 

The 44th edition of one of the oldest Polish festivals – "Music in Old Cracow" – will take place on 15-31 August 2019.

Cultural tradition in Cracow creates a special aura that conduces to music. Many outstanding European composers such as H. Finck, L. Marenzio and D. Cato worked here; G. Palestrina, G. Ph. Telemann and J. S. Bach dedicated their works to Polish kings. Liszt, Brahms, Paderewski and Rubinstein played here their concerts. The festival “Music in Old Cracow” refers to these great cards of Cracow cultural history.

This year's festival will feature such artists as violinist Krzysztof Jakowicz, harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï, organist Andrzej Białko, guitarist Dmytro Hołoweńko, cellists Steven Isserliss, Magdalena Bojanowicz and Bartosz Koziak, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Royal Rorantists, Cracow Brass Quintet, Collegium Zieleński, Camerata Polonia, Monastery of 13 Holy Assyrian Fathers Choir, Spanish Brass, Lviv Virtuosos and many others. Next to the famous artists, young talented musicians at the beginning of their careers are invited to the festival too.

The program of the festival “Music in Old Cracow” includes wide range of music – from the oldest to contemporary. This year, we will listen to works by Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Grażyna Bacewicz, Wojciech Kilar and Stanisław Moryto. The concerts will take place in various historical venues, which allows to see the most beautiful places in Cracow, in addition to musical impressions.

Full programme available at: http://www.mwsk.eu/ 

The 15th "Chopin and His Europe" Festival – one of the most important international music projects to familiarize audiences with the Polish composer’s œuvre – will take place between 14 August and 1 September in Warsaw.

In accordance with its title, the Festival showcases Fryderyk Chopin’s œuvre in the context of ‘his’ Europe, understood in four perspectives: Europe contemporary to him, pre-Chopin Europe, Europe after the great master’s death and, finally, the Europe of our time. For this reason, aside from works by Chopin himself, the repertoire played at the Festival also includes the music that inspired him, works by composers younger than he, and the reception of Chopin’s œuvre in music contemporary to us. An essential aesthetic premise of the program is to present and confront two performance movements: performance on historical and modern instruments. At the same time, of extraordinary significance is the presence of the most distinguished pianists, orchestras and ensembles – representing both the international and the Polish music world – at the Festival. Supported by the interpretations of the masters, the Festival also creates an opportunity for young artists now debuting on the concert stage to perform in such prestigious company.

Flis and The Haunted Manor in the concert version, vocal lyric, piano pieces, The Fairy Tale symphonic overture, as well as Józef Nowakowski's and Henryk Melcer's arrangements of songs and fragments of Halka. Of key importance for the "Chopin and his Europe" Festival are also high-class performances of contemporary Polish music, including works by Witold Lutosławski, Andrzej Panufnik, Krzysztof Penderecki and Mieczysław Weinberg, whose 100th birthday falls this year.

Full programme available at: https://festiwal.nifc.pl/pl