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Composer Juliusz Łuciuk, honorary member of the Polish Composers' Union, died on 17 October 2020 at the age of 93.

"Particular attention to national, religious and family traditions, extremely prolific compositional activity regardless of age, regularly resulting in new compositions, permanent presence in the musical environment of Kraków, and also his creative path, stubbornness and determination in the implementation of the plans and outstanding artistic achievements, in large part released on monographic records” – in these words musicologist Jerzy Stankiewicz summed up Juliusz Łuciuk's work.

Juliusz Łuciuk, a graduate of the State Higher School of Music in Kraków, was a student of Zdzisław Jachimecki and Stanisław Wiechowicz. He continued his musical education in Paris, where in 1958-59 he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and Max Deutsch as well as attended Olivier Messiaen's seminars. In 1959 he also took part in the International Courses for Composers in Darmstadt. He received numerous awards for his work, including Silver Medal in the International Competition for Composers in Vercelli, Netherlands Radio Award in the International Competition for Composers in the Netherlands, Prix de Composition Musicale Prince Rainier, Polish Prime Minister's Award for piano works for children, Friar Albert Award for achievements in the field of sacred music, Award of the Polish Composers' Union, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross, Special Award of the Minister of Culture, Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.

Let us honor his memory!

Krzysztof Penderecki's works in unusual arrangements for string quartet will be performed by the Atom String Quartet during a concert in the Espressivo series on 19 October 2020 at 7.00 p.m. at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin. The concert will be broadcast live at http://livefilharmonia.szczecin.pl/.

Not only is Atom String Quartet one of the most important Polish string quartets, but also one of the most befriended ensembles of the Szczecin Filharmonic. The fruit of this collaboration is the album Penderecki – recorded in the Szczecin Philharmonic and also released by the institution. The ensemble reached for the music of Krzysztof Penderecki – the greatest Polish composer of our time, who passed away in March this year.

Chamber and solo works for wind instruments from the Master's youthful period, which are interspersed with Three pieces in the old style – based on Penderecki's music to The Saragossa Manuscript– constitute the axis of the programme. Classical and avant-garde music is mixed jazz and experimental style.

Information on tickets at: https://filharmonia.szczecin.pl/wydarzenia/1392-ASQ__PENDERECKI 

For the seventh time the "Porta Musicae" Artistic Association together with the Karol Szymanowski Krakow Philharmonic invite you to participate in the Krakow Musical Autumn. This year, the organizers are offering you a series of four concerts on 18 and 20-22 October 2020. Festival concerts will take place in the Concert Hall of the Krakow Philharmonic.

The 7th Krakow Musical Autumn is four meetings with chamber classical music, at its best. The concert programmes included works belonging to the classics of the repertoire as well as works by contemporary composers.

The festiwal will be opened by Airis String Quartet, which will present Ludwig van Beethoven's and Felix Mendelssohn's string quartets. During this concert, the artists will also perform a world premiere of Michał Dobrzyński's piece, commissioned and written especially for the seventh edition of the Krakow Musical Autumn as part of the "Composing Commissions" programme of the Institute of Music and Dance. On the second day of the festival, violinist Piotr Rachwał, cellist Barbara Łypik-Sobaniec and pianist Sławomir Cierpik will present a programme consisting of works by Ada Gentile, Adam Walaciński and Antonin Dvořák. On the third day, a duo that has never been at this festival before – mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kulig and accordionist Maciej Zimka, will perform songs by Mieczysław Karłowicz, Fryderyk Chopin, Peter Cornelius and Piotr Czajkowski. At the end of this year's edition, an exceptional young pianist, winner of the 2nd International Piano Competition "Chopin at Wawel" (2019), Piotr Pawlak will perform piano works by Fryderyk Chopin.

Full programme is available at: http://www.filharmonia.krakow.pl/ 

The Polish Composers' Union – Krakow Branch invites you to the 32nd Krakow International Festival of Composers, which will be held on 17-25 October 2020. We will hear 16 world premieres and 3 Polish premieres.

During this year’s 32nd Festival, traditionally the output of the composers from Kraków in the context of the international music will be presented. The repertoire will be enriched by the compositions inspired by nature, such as: Wyspy (Islands) by Eugeniusz Knapik, Warkocz Bereniki (Coma Berenices) by Jerzy Kornowicz, Sounds of Forest by Sofia Gubaidulina or Le merle noir (Blackbird) by Olivier Messiaen.

During the inaugural concert, we will hear the composition by Krzysztof Penderecki: Ciaccona in memoria del Giovanni Paolo II, performed by Sinfonietta Cracovia under the baton of Jurek Dybał. It will be a special event commemorating our Master from Kraków who passed away this year as well as the 100th birth anniversary of the Polish Pope. During this concert, the orchestra will also premiere e.g. the newest pieces of Wojciech Widłak and Kamil Kruk (the part of musical saw played by the composer himself). The tradition of the festival is the annual concert of the Studio of Electroacoustic Music at the Academy of Music in Kraków. This year, at the concert titled “Electronic Cocktail”, the newest works by the music composition students will be presented, most of them being at the same time the world premieres.

The important element of the programme of the 32nd Festival is the 3rd Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers, inaugurated on his 85th birth anniversary. This year’s jury awarded the Main Prize to the piece Streams… contacts for flute and piano, the author of which is Austrian composer Otto Wanke (b. 1989).

The festival will be complemented by the musicological session “Music and nature”, during which the speeches will be given by theoreticians from the Academy of Music in Kraków and the Institute of Musicology of the Jagiellonian University.

Due to the dynamically developing pandemic of Covid-19 in Krakow, all festival concerts will unfortunately take place without the audience. Live broadcasts of the concerts will be available on our festival websites: http://festiwal.zkp.krakow.pl; http://facebook.com/festiwalkompozytorow. 

Marcel Chyrzyński, General and Artistic Director

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme is available at: http://festiwal.zkp.krakow.pl/ 

The Chamber Music Department of the Academy of Music in Kraków invites you on 17-28 October 2020 to the 4th International Piano Duo Festival "Duettissimo!".

This international festival is a unique event devoted solely and exclusively to music for piano duo. Participation of world-renowned artists confirms its growing importance on a global scale. The festival aims at reintroducing piano duo to pianists and to concert life as well as popularizing piano duo repertoire. The artistic director of the project is Bartłomiej Kominek, PhD Habil. – head of the Department of Chamber Music.

The "Duettissimo" Festival 2020 will take place in a limited form and will be partially transferred to the digital space. The group of performers will traditionally include both students of the Academy of Music in Kraków and its lecturers, as well as winners of international piano duo competitions. The Festival will host one of the best duets of the Slovak Republic – Jordana Palovičová and Zuzana Biščáková. The inaugural concert will be held under the honorary patronage of the Consul of the Slovak Republic in Krakow. The programme will also feature Polish music, including works by Juliusz Zarębski and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.

Admission to festival concerts is free!

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centr POLMIC.

Full programme is available at: https://www.amuz.krakow.pl/duettissimo/