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"Elementi 7: retro" is three days of intense musical meetings and concerts. Olga Drenda, Andrzej Mądry and Artur Zagajewski will be the special guests of this year's edition, which will take place on 1-3 March 2019 at the Music Academy in Kraków.

The student conference "Elementi", initiated seven years ago, quickly grew into a cyclical event, including not only lectures and discussions, but also concerts, meetings, and composers' workshops. The word "retro" – the theme of this year's edition – provokes to ask questions about the presence of the past in contemporary art, while providing an excuse to take up the problem of nostalgia, widmontology, or spiritology. These issues will be discussed in the papers during the two-day academic conference (1-2 March), featuring lectures given by invited guests: Olga Drenda, Andrzej Mądry and Artur Zagajewski.

An important part of "Elementi 7" are concerts of new music. Gośka Isphording and Erik Bosgraaf (1 March), and Contemporary Ensemble Music Co-operative (2 March) will perform during the first two days. On the last day there will be a concert of students of the composition class of the Music Academy in Kraków (3 March).

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

On 20th February 2019, the Jury of the Professor Hieronim Feicht Competition, composed of: dr hab. Paweł Gancarczyk, prof. IS PAN (chairman), dr hab. Katarzyna Dadak-Kozicka, prof. FCUM, prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Skowron, prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Woźna-Stankiewicz, prof. dr hab. Remigiusz Pośpiech, dr hab. Agnieszka Leszczyńska, and dr Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska, gathered in Warsaw.

The jury of the competition unanimously decided to award the Professor Hieronim Feicht Award ex aequo to the following authors:

1) Wojciech Karasiński (Institute of Musicology, Jagiellonian University) for the work Poglądy estetyczno-artystyczne Beli Bartóka [Aesthetic and artistic views of Bela Bartók].

2) Michał Klubiński (Institute of Musicology, University of Warsaw) for the book entitled Bohdan Wodiczko. Dyrygent wobec nowoczesnej kultury muzycznej, Kraków 2017 [Bohdan Wodiczko. Conductor towards modern music culture, Kraków 2017].

Additionally, the Jury of the Competition decided to distinguish Mr. Kwen-Yin Li for the work entitled Polonez po Chopinie. Utwory fortepianowe kompozytorów polskich z lat 1850–1918 [Polonaise after Chopin. Piano compositions of Polish composers from 1850-1918].

Congratulations all the winners!

A chamber concert at the Gorzów Philharmonic on March 1, 2019 at 7.00 p.m., featuring works arranged for a cello quintet, will be an opportunity to listen to the different shades of this instrument.

The concert will start with baroque music: Passacaglia composed by Georg Friedrchich Händel as a part of his Suite No. 7 (1720). Then we will listen to the meditative piece Fratres (1977) by Arvo Pärt which is an example of musical minimalism. In Deux mouvements (1935) by Aleksander Tansman cellos will sparkle with different colors thanks to numerous dynamic and rhythmic contrasts. One of the greatest colorists in the history of classical music will be referred to in Hommage a Maurice Ravel by Mahir Cetiz. The programmee will be complemented by two compositions: Kol Nidrei (1880) by Max Bruch, inspired by Hebrew music, and one of the suites of Bachianas Brasileiras series (1930-1945) by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

More information at: https://www.filharmoniagorzowska.pl/pl/calendar/event/1211/2019-03-01/19:00 

The Music School Complex in Wieliczka and the Sfogato Music and Art Society have the honor of inviting you to the 2nd Festival and Piano Competition "Piano e Forte". Applications for the Competition should be submitted by  February 15, 2019.

The aim of the "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition is to show the history of piano evolution in the context of the development of the piano repertoire: research on mutual relation and the impact of new achievements in the field of the piano mechanism on the repertoire as well as the influence of innovative compositional techniques for the development of the instrument. The "Piano e Forte" competition seeks to inspire young pianists to deepen their knowledge of the history of the instrument, raise awareness of the performing practices of a diverse repertoire on contemporary and historical pianos, as well as to explore the interpretational trends and piano literature of different eras. The "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition, whose originator and artistic director is the pianist Marta Polańska, is an innovative project that captures the issue in a holistic way. The organizers of the event are: The Music School Complex in Wieliczka and the Sfogato Society of Music and Art in Kraków. The first edition (2018) took place on the 320th anniversary of the first mention of the invention of the Italian builder Bartolomeo Cristofori, showing the historical route of the piano "From the Italian land to Poland". By presenting the repertoire of works by Polish composers, the first edition celebrated the 100th anniversary of Poland's regaining Independence.

The second edition of the Festival and Competition will take place on March 1-9, 2019 and will celebrate the anniversaries of prominent Polish composers:
Stanisław Moniuszko on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth,
Maria Szymanowska on the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the composer's birth,
Fryderyk Chopin on the 170th death anniversary of the composer
and Grażyna Bacewicz on the occasion of the 110th birth and 50th death anniversary.

The programme of the Festival will include: workshops on the construction of the grand piano and its prototypes, the harpsichord and organs – an instrument on which Fryderyk Chopin and Stanisław Moniuszko also played; lectures on the history of instruments, as well as piano works of the aforementioned Polish composers; the 2nd Piano Competition "Piano e Forte," and the Gala Concert of Young Piano Masters.

The Competition Rules and other information can be found at www.PianoeForte.pl 

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

The next master piano recital at the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic will take place on February 28, 2019 at 7.00 p.m. Paweł Kubica will present a programme composed entirely of Polish music.

Paweł Kubica, participant of two Chopin Competitions, will perform a selection of Polish piano literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The evening will feature compositions by Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, and Juliusz Zarębski.

The pianist graduated with honors from the Academy of Music in Kraków in 1996 in the class of Janusz Olejniczak. He perfected his skills at numerous master classes in Poland and abroad. He is a laureate of national and international competitions, including 2nd Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition of Contemporary Chamber Music in Kraków (1998, first prize in the soloists' category and a special award). Apart from being an active soloist, he works at the Chamber Music Department of the Academy of Music in Kraków.

Detailed programme available at: https://filharmonia.olsztyn.pl/koncert/mistrzowskie-recitale-fortepianowe-7/