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The symphonic concert inaugurating the 2023/2024 artistic season at the Łódź Philharmonic will be dedicated to the 85^th birthday of Zygmunt Krauze and the 50^th anniversary of death of Paweł Klecki. On the 15^th of September at 19.00 the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paweł Przytocki will perform works by these artists, and Zygmunt Krauze himself will also perform as a soloist.

On the occasion of his 85^th birthday, the world-famous Polish composer and pianist will perform his Piano Concerto No. 2 - a work from 1996, dedicated to the memory of the outstanding Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.

An important point of the programme will also be the performance of Sinfonietta Op. 7 by Paweł Klecki, from Łódź, initially a musician of the Łódź Symphony Orchestra, who made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonic in the 1930s under the supervision of Wilhelm Furtwängler. The score and orchestral parts of the Sinfonietta were prepared by Andrzej Wendland as part of his original project ‘Undiscovered pages of Polish music. Paweł Klecki in memoriam.’

How the city's musical life was transformed: Andrzej Kosendiak, the director of the National Forum of Music, talks about the educational mission and the artists who will be guests in the new season.

The beginning of a new artistic season at the National Forum of Music is approaching. At the opening of the NFM, the Wrocław Philharmonic will perform the European premiere of the Triple Concerto by Stanisław Skrowaczewski - a famous conductor and an important figure for Wrocław. However, the Philharmonic begins the season without an artistic director.

We have invited many different conductors to cooperate with the Philharmonic in the upcoming season, and it will be a time of searching for a new director. During its inaugural concert, the orchestra will be conducted by Pinchas Steinberg, who has performed at the Vienna State Opera. It will also be managed by, among others, Joel Sandelson, Pascal Rophé and Ainārs Rubiķis. The NFM Orchestra Leopoldinum has already chosen its management. Its artistic director will be the outstanding violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky - an artist recognized all over the world, and extremely interested in promoting our ensemble. Leopoldinum will perform with cellists Mischa Maisky and Daniel Müller-Schott, as well as violinist Alena Baeva. At the New Year's Gala, the orchestra will perform together with the Janoska Ensemble. Also in January, together with the musicians of L.U.C. & Rebel Babel Orchestra, will perform music from the film Chłopi.

Interview by Barnaba Matusz

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

2^nd Witold Friemann International Clarinet Competition is a project of Foundation Life and Art in cooperation with Thailand Clarinet Association. It is held online from 25-30.09.2023. Application are open from the 1^st of June till the 25^th of September 2023.

The main goal of the Competition is to promote clarinet music by forgotten Polish composer Witold Friemann (1889-1977), whose excellent music works enhanced clarinet literature and are worth promoting worldwide. Characteristic style of his works and unique elements of the Polish music will enrich musical horizons of the participants and develop clarinet skills.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

On the 15^th of September, 2023 at 7.00 p.m. the Silesian Philharmonic will officially begin its 79^th artistic season with a concert of extremely moving music. Recognized soloists Maria Berezovska and Izabela Matuła will perform together with the Philharmonic Choir and Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yaroslav Shemet. The inauguration programme will include a work by the patron of the Silesian Philharmonic, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, and it will be accompanied by one of the most famous and most admired symphonies by Gustav Mahler, his ‘Resurrection’.

The concert will begin with the performance of fragments of Miserere for mixed choir, Op. 44 by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. This composition was created in response to the events of the 19^th of March, 1981 in Bydgoszcz, preceding the martial law announced a few months later.

Ticket information: https://filharmonia-slaska.eu/production/inauguracja-mahler-ii-symfonia-matula-berezovska-shemet-wolanin/?=2 

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

The 3^rd Michał Spisak International Festival will be held from the 14^th of September to the 22^nd of October, 2023 at the Zagłębie Palace of Culture. The central event of the Festival will be the 14^th Michał Spisak International Music Competition (specialties: trumpet, horn, trombone), and the 2^nd Intercollegiate Poster Design Competition of the 15th Michał Spisak International Competition. The programme will include 10 concerts and 2 exhibitions.

Two concert series are planned – ‘Scena/anecS’ (the audience sits on the stage with the artists) and ‘Chamber Thursdays’ (concerts in the Chamber Hall of the Zagłębie Palace of Culture) - and symphonic concerts in the Theater Hall of the Zagłębie Palace of Culture.

The Sonos Quartet and actor Adam Woronowicz, Krzysztof Herdzin, NOSPR Brass Quintet, jurors of the 14^th Michał Spisak International Music Competition will perform. Gala combined with the opening concert of the Competition will be honored by the performance of the Symphony Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski conducted by Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk Academy of Music and pianist Magdalena Lisak.