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The Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk announces the 1st National Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition for students and graduates of second-degree music schools and art colleges, which will be held on 21-24 November 2019.

The competition aims to promote the work of Stanisław Moniuszko, support talented vocalists of the young generation and their practical preparation for artistic activities. The competition is organized by the Music Academy of Stanisław Moniuszko in Gdańsk under the auspices of the Grand Theater – National Opera.

The competition takes place in two categories: 1) students and graduates of vocal classes of the second degree music schools, who are not students of art universities in the field of "Vocal Studies" and who are under 23 years old by the date of the Competition; 2) students and graduates of art universities in the field of "Vocal studies" who are under 30 years old by the beginning of the Competition.

On-line registration is available until 7 October 2019 at: http://konkurswokalny.amuz.gda.pl/.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Rules and regulations of the competiton are available at: http://konkurswokalny.amuz.gda.pl/ 

On 27-28 September 2019, the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk will host the International Moniuszko Congress "Stanisław Moniuszko in Polish and World Culture. New perspectives and interpretations” – one of the most important events of the celebration of the Moniuszko Year.

In connection with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Stanisław Moniuszko – the father of Polish national opera and one of the most important Polish composers – the thematic scope of the Congress includes the composer's biography and work as well as his artistic achievements considered both in the national-cultural context and in the perspective of socio-aesthetic situation in Europe of his time.

The Congress programme will include two plenary lectures and several dozen papers. The meeting is planned in four themetic blocks composed of four parallel sections, during which an international group of speakers will address issues from the following thematic areas:

1. Stanisław Moniuszko, the composer and his work, from the perspective of various humanistic disciplines (musicology, history, theatre studies, film studies, philology, sociology, cultural studies, etc.);

2. Trends, interpretations and perspectives in Moniuszko studies;

3. Nineteenth-century Polish music as the context and backdrop to Moniuszko’s creative output;

4. The concept of Moniuszko’s Polish national opera compared to European currents of national stage output;

5. The role of music in shaping nineteenth-century political and cultural awareness;

6. The dialectic of the socio-political and artistic domains in musical output of the nineteenth century.

The Congress will be accompanied by two concerts organized by its Gdańsk partners. On 27 September, the Fryderyk Chopin Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk will hold a concert of Fryderyk Chopin's music, and on 28 September – the Moniuszko Gala, inaugurating the 2019/2020 seson.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme available at: http://www.amuz.gda.pl/events/miedzynarodowy-kongres-moniuszkowski-stanislaw-moniuszko-w-kulturze-polskiej-i-swiatowej-nowe-perspektywy-i-interpretacje/ 

Marta Ptaszyńska was honored with the American Council for Polish Culture Award during the 71st Annual Conference of the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC), held on 6-8 September 2019 at the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw.

The conference was opened by the ACPC President Thomas Payne. It featured business sessions, lectures and a concert of Wojciech Bafeltowski and Mateusz Błaszczak cello duo. CEOs and delegates from many organizations promoting Polish culture in the United States have reported on their activities. During the festive banquet on 7 September, composer Marta Ptaszyńska received the ACPC Award for Achievements in the Field of Culture. The laudation was given by Dr Jarosław Gołembiowski

Marta Ptaszyńska graduated in composition at the Music Academies in Warsaw and Poznań. For many years, Witold Lutosławski ws her mentor. In 1969-70, she continued her compositional studies with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. Since 1972, she lives in the United States. In 1974, she received the Artist Diploma in Composition and Percussion at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has taught composition at many American universities and music schools, including Bennington College in Vermont, University of California in Berkeley and in Santa Barbara, Indiana University in Bloomington, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University in Evanson. In 1998, she became a professor of composition at the University of Chicago. As a lecturer, she requires high-quality work, clear writing and individual character. Her music is published by PWM Edition in Poland and Theodore Presser in the United States. Her works are recorded by CD Accord-Universal, Muza Polish Records, Olympia, Chandos, Dux, ProViva and Bayers Records. For many years, the University of Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players (Contempo) under the guidance of Professor Ptaszyńska presented contemporary compositions during seasonal concerts at the Logan Center at the University of Chicago. During these concerts, many Polish composers performed for the first time in the United States.

The inauguration concert of the 41st season of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra, which will take place on 13 September 2019 at 7 p.m. at the CKK Jordanki Concert Hall, will be focused on extremely talented artists of the young generation.

The concert will premiere Hommage à Lipiński written by Maciej Bałenkowski on the commission of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra specially for the inauguration of the 2019/2020 season. By opening the concert with this work, the orchestra will pay a symbolic tribute to the outstanding Polish violinist and composer Karol Lipiński and make an introduction to the upcoming 5th Karol Lipiński International Violin Competition, due to begin on 1 October 2019. Therefore, it is the violin section that will play the dominant role in this work. The composer's aim is to achieve a blend of the traditional and the modern with a touch of his own style (including innovative syncopation, dynamics, energy and lack of routine). The educational element of the project will also be invaluable: nurturing the memory of this great violinist and composer by creating a new work for symphonic orchestra which is dedicated to his memory and bears references to his work; preserving him and the role he played in Polish music; promoting his music and imprinting it into the consciousness of the listeners.

The programme will also include virtuoso Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, featuring Spanish pianist Leo de María as a soloist. The concert will culminate in Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 by Johannes Brahms. The Toruń Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by maestro Dainius Pavilionis (Lithuania).

More information at: www.tos.art.pl 

The 75th anniversary season of the Silesian Philharmonic will be inaugurated on 20 September 2019 at 7 p.m. with a concert featuring the Silesian Chamber Orchestra with a special guest – finalist of the Eurovision Young Musicians Competition in 2014, Sara Domjanić.

Twenty-two-year-old Croatian violinist plays a Stephan von Baehr “Antonio Stradivari – Golden Period” violin, which was made in 2014. Together with the Silesian Chamber Orchestra, she will perfrom Las cuatro estaciones porteñas by Astora Piazzolli. The concert programme will also include Three pieces in old style by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki as well as three three different divertimenti – composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Grażyna Bacewicz and Mikołaj Górecki.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://filharmonia-slaska.eu/production/inauguracja-75-jubileuszowego-sezonu-artystycznego-filharmonii-slaskiej/?=2 

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