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Zakopane | Premiere of the new piece by Marcel Chyrzyński

During the final concert of the 41st Karol Szymanowski Music Days, on 29th July 2018 at 8.00 p.m. in the church of the Holy Cross in Zakopane, the premiere of the latest work by Marcel Chyrzyński will take place: Ukiyo-e No. 4 for clarinet, French horn, piano and string orchestra.

The composition will be presented by the Silesian Trio and the Orchestra of Silesian Chamber Musicians under the baton of Robert Kabara. The composer writes about his work:

"Ukiyo-e No. 4 for clarinet, French horn, piano and string orchestra is part of the series of works entitled "Ukiyo-e". This is the fourth composition inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e woodcuts, or "images of the passing world." These woodcuts were the quintessence of everyday life and cultural climate of Japan of the Edo period (XVII-XIX centuries). In this cycle, from the emotional side, I refer to the Japanese aesthetics, in which transitoriness, impermanence, and transience of the moment are of special importance. It includes a Buddhist approach to nature – 'the beauty of flowers is dear to us, because we know that they will not be there again in the autumn'."

In the week preceding the premiere of Ukiyo-e No.4, on 24th July at 6.00 p.m., a meeting with the composer will take place as part of "highlander's residences" in the Wnuk Gallery. Marcel Chyrzyński will talk about his latest work. PWM will broadcast live this meeting on its facebook profile.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Additional information at: http://www.szymanowski.zakopane.pl/

Warsaw | 11th New Town Summer Festival

The 11th New Town Summer Festival will be held between July 20 and August 5, 2018, including a series of chamber concerts in churches located in the Warsaw's New Town. As part of the finale, Clay Tablets II by Edward Sielicki will be premiered.

The festival will begin with the concert of Sonorus Quartet, composed of musicians of the MACV Warsaw Chamber Opera. The programme will include compositions by Radziwiłł, Elsner and Moniuszko. Another Friday evening (July 27) will feature excellent soprano Anna Mikołajczyk and pianist Robert Morawski, who will perform the songs of Chopin and Moniuszko. During the last chamber Friday (July 3) we will hear charismatic accordionist Maciej Frąckiewicz, who will interpret compositions by Przybylski, Majkusiak, Penderecki, Lutosławski, Tabakiernik, and Tuchowski.

Two succesive Sundays (July 22 and 29) will be filled with music by Chopin, Karłowicz, Stolpe and Jerzy Maksymiuk performed by Warsaw Camerata conducted by Paweł Kos-Nowicki with pianist Paweł Kowalski and Kamerata Vistula Chamber Musicians with cellist Anna Wróbel as soloist.

In the finale of the 11th New Town Summer Festival, Jerzy Maksymiuk will lead the Warsaw Camerata Orchestra, and Leszek Lorent will play percussion instruments. On August 5 in the Church of St. Francis musicians will perform the world premiere of Clay Tablets II by Edward Sielicki, which was written as part of the "Composition Commissions" programme, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance. In addition, we will hear compositions by Lutosławski, Paderewski and Maksymiuk.

The festival is co-financed by the city Warsaw. Organizer: "New Chamber Orchestra" Foundation. Admission to all concerts is free!

SEE: Festival Page on FB

Poznań | Ogólnopolski Konkurs „Kompozytor – rezydent w Salonie Muzycznym Feliksa Nowowiejskiego”

Towarzystwo im. Feliksa Nowowiejskiego poszukując nowych form popularyzowania niezwykle bogatej twórczości Patrona, zdecydowało o uruchomieniu programu rezydencji kompozytorskich w Salonie Muzycznym, nawiązującego do znanej na całym świecie praktyki zapraszania do współpracy młodych artystów. Konkurs odbywa się pod patronatem Poznańskiego Oddziału Związku Kompozytorów Polskich.

Założeniem rezydencji jest opracowywanie, także prawykonanie i nagranie nowych aranżacji na zespoły kameralne utworów Nowowiejskiego, tych najsłynniejszych, ale też tych zupełnie dziś nieznanych, nadal spoczywających w archiwach w postaci autografów.

W trakcie rezydentury odbywają się trzy koncerty: monograficzny (wybrane utwory Kompozytora-rezydenta) oraz dwa związane z twórczością Patrona.

Rezydent na 2019 rok wyłoniony będzie w drodze specjalnego konkursu. Do udziału w Konkursie zapraszani są kompozytorzy mający polskie obywatelstwo, którzy do 1 października 2018 nie ukończyli 30. roku życia. Czas trwania rezydentury: od stycznia do grudnia 2019 roku. Honorarium Kompozytora-rezydenta: 13 200 zł brutto.

Zgłoszenia dokonywane są poprzez wypełnienie formularza i oświadczenia. Należy przesłać także CV, 3 partytury, 3-4 nagrania wybranych utworów przeznaczonych na różnorodne kameralne obsady wykonawcze i opis koncepcji rezydentury. Termin zgłoszenia: do 1 października 2018 roku.

W składzie jury są przedstawiciele Towarzystwa im. Feliksa Nowowiejskiego, Poznańskiego Oddziału Związku Kompozytorów Polskich, Akademii Muzycznej im. I. J. Paderewskiego i Miasta Poznania, artysta-wykonawca, Kompozytorzy-rezydenci edycji 2017 i 2018.

Regulamin Konkursu, karta zgłoszeniowa oraz oświadczenie dostępne są na stronie www.nowowiejski.pl w zakładce „Aktualności”.

The latest André Rieu concert in more than 60 cinemas from 31st July

”Amore – my tribute to love", the latest concert of André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra will be screened in over 60 Polish cinemas. On 31 July 2018 at 6:30 p.m., the concert will be broadcast at the Praha Cinema in Warsaw.

nazywowkinach.pl – a distributor of opera, ballet and theater transmissions and rebroadcasts to cinemas – invites you to a series of retransmissions of the exceptional summer concert of André Rieu and his orchestra. As always, the event will feature arrangements of great hits of classical music, as well as new compositions written especially for the occasion. The program includes works by Strauss, Verdi, Puccini, Webber, Rodgers, and the famous Kalinka and Granada.

The Dutch violin virtuoso and his classical music concerts in the beautiful scenery of the medieval market in Maastricht every year attract crowds to this city where André Rieu comes from. These amazing shows are full of emotions, humor and fun, in a colorful setting of flowers, lights and sophisticated outfits. On 7 July maestro proposed a romantic show titled "Amore – my tribute to love." The concert was recorded and from 31 July to 15 August, it will be screened in cinemas around the world, including 60 in Poland.

On the occasion of this year's concert, André offered a unique opportunity to make a love dedication. Each viewer could dedicate the waltz to his beloved person. André personally chose one dedication and announced the winner during the concert.

The media patronage over the broadcast cycle was taken by the Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

List of cinemas and screenings schedule available at: http://www.kinopraha.pl

Warsaw | Halfway of Summer Concerts at Grochowska Street

Letnie The cycle of Summer Concerts at Grochowska Street will last till 26th August 2018.

So far, many outstanding artists appeared in the Concert Pavilion, presenting the repertoire from Baroque and Classicism to the works of Jerzy Wasowski and musicals by Leonard Bernstein. The programme of the second half of the series looks equally interesting, focusing on chamber music.

The concert of the HarSax duet will take place on 29th July. The ensemble, composed of saxophonist Daniel Kobielski and harpist Juliusz Wesołowski, will perform compositions originally intended for this unusual set of instruments. The duo will present SaHarBAD for alto saxophone and harp by Anna Maria Huszcza. During the concert, the artists will also premiere Maciej Małecki's Scherzo for alto saxophone and harp. Noteworthy is the concert on 4th August, during which violinist Marcin Markowicz and pianist Grzegorz Skrobiński will present Sonatina in D major, Op. 46 by Mieczysław Wajnberg.

Traditionally, during the Summer Concerts at Grochowska Street, outstanding young artists, scholarship holders of the Sinfonia Varsovia Foundation, winners of the 1st Interuniversity Viola Competition (Gdańsk 2017), and chamber music students of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music will perform the repertoire which also includes Polish contemporary music.

Summer Concerts at Grochowska Street take place every Saturday and Sunday at 4.00 p.m.

Detailed information at: http://www.sinfoniavarsovia.org

Gdańsk | Opening Ceremony of St. Dominic’s Fair

The Opening Ceremony of St. Dominic’s Fair will take place on 28th July 2018 at noon in the Artus Manor House in Toruń. It will feature the bugle call written especialy for the occasion by Paweł Hulisz.

The opening ceremony refers to the fifteenth-century figures of city and tower "squeaks", whose duty was to warn, greet distinguished guests with a fanfare and announce the closing of the city gates. The town musician was also a setter of the tower carillon. Since the Gdansk City Council has been hiring musicians, the solemn opening and closing of the Fair is accompanied by music.

The grand opening of St. Dominic’s Fair will feature a special bugle-call based on Gdańsk music, played by trumpeters Tubicinatores Gedanenses and town hall carillon (Monika Kazmierczak). The sixteen trumpeters will be placed in the windows and on the roof of the Artus Manor House. Since St. Dominic’s Fair celebrates 758th anniversary this year, this bugle call is composed of 758 notes. The whole trick is that every year the next note is added, so the bugle-call "grows old" together with the Fair.

More information at: http://jarmarkdominika.pl/

9th Chamber Music Festival in Urle

The 9th edition of Chamber Music Festival in Urle will last until 11th August 2018.

The Chamber Music Festival in Urle is a series of concerts organized since 2010 by the Friends of Culture Association and the Parish of Our Lady of Częstochowa Church in Urle. Since 2011, it has been implemented in cooperation with the Mazovian Center for Culture and Art in Warsaw, now the Mazovian Institute of Culture, responsible for the programming of the event.

The festival presents mainly classical music performed by recognized chamber ensembles. The concerts take place every Saturday at 6.00 p.m. in the Our Lady of Częstochowa Church in Urle (8 Piękna Street).

The evening on 28th July will feature the most promising string quartet of the younger generation, the New Music Quartet – winners of the 1st Prize and three Special Awards at the 2nd Karol Szymanowski International String Quartet Competition in Katowice. The ensemble will perform works by contemporary Polish composers: Andrzej Panufnik, Krzysztof Penderecki and Karol Szymanowski. The concert repertoir of the Animato Harmony Orchestra on 4th August will include works by Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Mateusz Święcicki. In the finale, the Krakow Trio Stroikowe will present, among others, compositions by Krzesimir Dębski.

Admission to all concerts is free.

Detailed programme available at: www.mik.waw.pl

Podlasie SlowFest will be held until 12th August

The turn of July and August is the best time to visit Podlasie. The quietest festival in the world, Podlasie SlowFest, will be held until 12th August 2018.

The concerts in the slow rhythm awaits for fans of contemplative sounds and alternative music. "Quarter-tone piano" is an attempt to restore music to its natural registers. How much European music has lost by abandoning the quarter-tone division in favor of half-tone? We will learn on 26th July from Piotr and Agnieszka Kopińscy thanks to specially tuned pianos from Yamaha Polska. The concert will also feature the premiere of Splines microton composition by Krzysztof Gawlas, and soon after the concert, there will be a meeting with the composer.

The Radical Polish Ansambl, who combines folklore with classical music and avant-garde with tradition, will perform on 3rd August. Their style is based on the ancient sense of rhythm, sound and tonal sensitivity and forms of oral transmission. Woody Black 4, who will perform on 11th August, is the only band in the world improvising on four clarinets, including three bass ones.

Detailed programme available at: www.podlasieslowfest.pl/program-psw/

Katowice | Tickets for the final of the 1st Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice – since 2015 a UNESCO Creative City of Music – on 11–23 September 2018 will host the Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition.

The event is organised by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice in cooperation with leading Polish musical and cultural institutions (Polish Radio, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, and Karol Szymanowski Music Society in Zakopane), with the moral and financial support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The organisers hope that this important cultural initiative will help promote Polish music around the world and raise awareness among international audiences of the role of Karol Szymanowski and his works, which are such an important part of Polish cultural heritage.

The competition involves five disciplines: piano, violin, voice, string quartet, and composition and will be held in a five-year cycle, with the first edition scheduled for 11–23 September 2018.

The first and second stage of the competition will take place simultaneously in the seat of Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra in Katowice and at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. The pool of prizes in all five disciplines is going to be 287 000 €. Apart from the main prizes (1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prize in each discipline), special prizes for the best performance of a work by Szymanowski will be awarded in all the disciplines other than composition, and in the disciplines of violin and voice additionally a prize for the best chamber pianist.

The competition final, where the soloists will be accompanied by the NOSPR orchestra, and a gala event will be staged in the NOSPR concert hall. The tickets are already available at the NOSPR ticket office and in the online sales system at the NOSPR website.