The French Critics Association of Theater, Music and Dance (Le Syndicat Professionnel de la Critique Théâtre, Musique et Danse) awarded this year's Prize for the best premiere of the 2019/20 season (Meilleure Création Musicale) to Zygmunt Krauze for his Piano Concerto No.3 "Fragments of Memory".
The Critics Association Award (Prix du Syndicat de la Critique) has been awarded since 1963 and is one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of performing arts in France.
The work, commissioned by the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Orchester National de Metz and the National Philharmonic in Warsaw as part of the "Polish Music" and "POLSKA 100" programmes, had its world premiere at the inaugural concert of last year's "Warsaw Autumn", with the composer as soloist and the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Wilson Hermanto. The French premiere of the work took place in January 2020 in L'Arsenal Metz with the Orchester National de Metz, also with Zygmunt Krauze and Wilson Hermanto. Thee partners of the project were also the Polish Institute in Paris and the French Institute in Warsaw. The orchestra in Piano Concerto No. 3 included four Veme – new percussion instruments designed by French musician and composer Dominique Delahoche, created in cooperation between the Orchester National de Metz and the Arts et Métiers Metz Polytechnic.
"It is a great pleasure for me to be awarded by French critics with this prize for the second time. I am glad that my works are still valued in France, with which an important part of my creative path is connected" – said Zygmunt Krauze. The composer received the French critics prize for the first time for the opera Polieukt in the 2011/2012 season. Krauze lived in Paris for over a decade, where he both wrote his compositions and actively influenced the formation of the Paris music scene. In the 1970s, Pierre Boulez invited him to act as artistic adviser to the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique Musique (IRCAM).
The recording of the premiere will be available on the 62nd "Warsaw Autumn" Chronicle. A studio recording of the work is also planned.
More information at: https://associationcritiquetmd.com