official patronage

Zakopane | 13th "Music on the Heights" International Festival

On 11-18 September 2021, the Mieczysław Karłowicz Association in Zakopane invites all music lovers to the 13th "Music on the Heights" International Festival. This year's edition will feature such renowned musicians as Marcin Masecki, Olga Pasiecznik, Agata Zubel, Szymon Komasa, Marcin Zdunik, the NFM Orchestra and Choir conducted by Marzena Diakun and Camerata Silesia.

The International Festival "Music on the Heights" is an interdisciplinary artistic event that attracts a wide audience since 2009. The Festival encourages a dialogue between artists and music lovers, Polish and foreign musicians, music of old masters and the achievements of modern music, as well as outstanding and internationally recognized artists and talented debutants.

The inauguration concert on 11 September will include works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Paweł Szymański and Karol Szymanowski. The premiere of a unique performance prepared especially for the festival "Music on the Heights" – La voix humaine by Francis Poulenc will take place on 12 September at the S.I. Witkiewicz Theatre. A screening of Agnieszka Holland's Copying Beethoven will be held on 14 September in the Place Cinema in Zakopane. Talented young musicians from the F. Chopin State Music School in Nowy Targ and Musica Mundana School in Belgium will make their debut on 15 September in the Holy Cross Church. Lovers of choral music will appreciate the concert on 17 September, presenting compositions by Paweł Szymański, Sofia Gubajdulina, Paweł Mykietyn and John Tavener. The final concert will feature works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Arvo Pärt performed by Marcin Masecki and Marcin Markowicz.

The Festival will also feature meetings of the audience with artists and journalists as well as two unique photography exhibitions: Andrzej Ziółkowski's "The Inward Moment. Man in the face of the Sacred", showing the faces of many different religions in India, and" The Creators of Podhale 6 ", presenting the artistic achievements of artists living and working in Podhale.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Festival Website: http://muzykanaszczytach.com/pl/

Sopot | 21st "Maria Fołtyn Kaleidoscope of Musical Forms" International Festival

The Open Theatre in Gdańsk, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, invites you on 10-25 September 2021 to the 21st "Maria Fołtyn Kaleidoscope of Musical Forms" International Festival. The concerts will take place in the Garrison Church of St. George, in the Sierakowski Manor and the Armorial Hall of the Sopot City Hall.

This year's edition, referring to the multicultural heritage of Sopot and Pomerania, includes such concerts as: "From Bach to the Present", "Hits of vocal and instrumental music", "Chopin, angels and demons", "In the chambers of Mr. Stanisław", "Music of sunny Andalusia" – a Spanish concert on the 75th death anniversary of Manuel de Falla , "Canto amore mio" – a concert dedicated to the Patron of the Festival, featuring participants of the Master Course for Singers, "Between music and politics" – a chamber concert on the 80th death anniversary of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, "Dancing Eurydices" – a concert on the 85th birth anniversary of Anna German, and the final concert with the hits of the interwar period. The programme will include the music of Fryderyk Chopin, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Otto Mieczysław Żukowski, Jerzy Gablenz and Paweł Seligman.

The concerts will be performed by outstanding soloists and ensembles: mezzo-soprano Magdalena Cornelius-Kulig, tenor Jacek Szymański, accordionist Maciej Zimka, Joanna Nawrot & Baltic Quasideon Group, Duo Fortecello, Trio Fogg and Dariusz Wójcik, the artistic director of the Festival.

The project was co-financed by the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund under the "Music" programme, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance; realised with the financial support of the City of Sopot Commune.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Information about tickets and detailed programme: www.teatrotwarty.pl

Katowice | Inauguration of the 77th season of the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra

The 77th season of the Silesian Philharmonic will be inaugurated on 10 September 2021 at 7.00 p.m. The Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of its Artistic Director, Yaroslav Shemet, will present music by Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. The soloist of the evening will be the internationally acclaimed pianist Andrew von Oeyen.

The concert will open with Two Tristan Postludes and Chorale, Op. 82 by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, which were discovered after his death in the home archive. The composer's son took care of arranging this composition for its premiere in 2016. It is an elegiac work for strings, percussion and piano with references to the music of Richard Wagner. The programme will also include Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, the last of his major works.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Information about tickets: https://filharmonia-slaska.eu/

Tarnowskie Góry | Concert series of Elżbieta Chojnacka Centre for Contemporary Harpsichord Music: "Old & Modern"

The second musical evening in the "Old & Modern" concert series, organised by Elżbieta Chojnacka Centre for Contemporary Harpsichord Music, will take place on 26 September 2021 at 6.00 p.m. in the Palace in Rybna.

The "Gajeckie Sisters" duo is composed of twins – harpsichordists and pianists: Hanna Balcerzak and Aleksandra Gajecka-Antosiewicz. The artists debuted in 1992, performing W. A. Mozart's Double Concerto in E flat major. Since then, they have successfully performed at prestigious festivals in Poland and abroad. The duo's repertoire includes a series of pieces for harpsichord and piano for four hands, as well as for two harpsichords and two pianos.

In the programme of the "Old & Modern" concert, the artists will present an extremely interesting and rarely performed repertoire consisting of pieces of early and contemporary music. The harpsichord returned to concert halls not only as a symbol of the past, but also as a harbinger of what is new and unknown, because... forgotten. The juxtaposition of two harpsichords (a copy by Pascal Taskin from the 18th century and a modern model built especially for Elżbieta Chojnacka by Antony Sidey) will allow the audience to familiarize themselves with the wealth of tonal and expressive possibilities of these instruments.

Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Francois Couperin and Girolamo Frescobaldi will intertwine with the music of the 20th and 21st centuries: computer music by Piotr Klimek, instrumental and electronic music by Stephen Montague, experimental music by Bronisław Kazimierz Przybylski, Marcin Tadeusz Łukaszewski and John Cage, minimalist and repetitive music by Artur Zagajewski and Pierre-Adrien Charpy. Thus the concert will combine tradition with modernity.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://bit.ly/2X67PM5

Opole | Opening of the 70th season of the Opole Philharmonic

The opening of the 70th anniversary season of the Józef Elsner Opole Philharmonic will take place on 1 October 2021 at 7.00 p.m. The Opole Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of Przemysław Neumann alongside the winner of the Chopin Competition, Charles Richard-Hamelin.

When Mozart and Schikaneder enjoyed the success of the premiere of The Magic Flute in 1791, Józef Elsner, patron of the Opole Philharmonic, visited (and most likely applauded Mozart's triumph) in Vienna. Seventeen years later – perhaps inspired by the light form of singspiel – he composed a vaudeville entitled Echo in the Woods. The programme overture to this operatic comedy of errors was performed in 1952 during the concert inaugurating the activity of the Opole Symphony Orchestra. The opening of the 70th anniversary season of the Opole Philharmonic with the same sounds is a tribute to everyone to whom the Philhramonic owe the existence and rich history of this institution.

On the eve (literally!) of the 18th Chopin Competition, the music of the most famous Polish composer – Piano Concerto in F minor, classical in form and poetic in expression – will be performed by Charles Richard-Hamelin, 2nd prize winner of the previous edition of the Competition. The second part of the evening will be filled with Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 – a work famous for its lyrical, nostalgic third movement (Poco allegretto). The motif from this movement has been used many times in film and popular music, with Frank Sinatra’s song Take My Love (recorded in 1950) being the most popular example.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket information: www.filharmonia.opole.pl

Winners of Kazimierz Serocki 17th International Composers’ Competition 2021

One hundred twelve scores from all over the world were sent to the Kazimierz Serocki 17th International Composers’ Competition 2021, organised by the Polish Society for Contemporary Music. On 10-12 September 2021 the Competition Jury awarded composers from South Korea, Italy and Czech Republic. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Polish Composers' Union.

The Jury composed of: Paweł Łukaszewski (Poland), Paul Patterson (United Kingdom), and Dariusz Przybylski (Poland) decided to give the following prizes:

The First Prize (13,000PLN) went to Sungji Hong (South Korea) – Lux Mundi.

The Second Prize (8,000PLN) went to Massimo Lauricella (Italy) – Imis.

The Third Prize (4,000PLN) went to Jan Holý (Czech Republic) – The Puppet.

The prizes were funded by The Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport. PWM Edition’s Special Prize for the Youngest Winner: PWM Edition’s publications – was awarded to Sungji Hong. Event Partner: Authors’ Society ZAiKS.

The concert of the winners, co-organized with the Polish Radio Channel 2, will take place on 6 November 2021 in Władysław Szpilman Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw. The Concert will be recorded and broadcast on the Polish Radio Channel 2 and then offered to the European Broadcasting Union.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://ptmw.art.pl/english-kazimierz-serocki-12th-international-composers-competition-2011-results/

Rzeszów, Warsaw | Prize Winners Concerts of the 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music

The winners of the 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music 2021 will perform on 18 September at 7 p.m. at the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic in Rzeszów and on 20 September at 7 p.m. at the Warsaw Philharmonic. The 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music, carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance, is a member of the Alink-Argerich Foundation’s piano competitions network. The Competition is financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, under the honorary auspices of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda.

Carter Johnson, a young and talented Canadian pianist has won the 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in the piano category and there has been no match for the Książek Piano Duo (Agnieszka Zahaczewska-Książek and Krzysztof Książek) in the chamber ensemble category. The second prize in the piano category has been granted to Ivan Shemchuk (Ukraine), who was also amongst the laureates of the 1st Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music back in 2019. The second prize in the chamber ensemble category has been won by Kwintofonia (Poland), a wind quintet from Warsaw. The third prizes have been respectively awarded to Michał Karol Szymanowski (Poland), in a pianist category and a duo of violinist Aleksandra Kuls and pianist Marcin Koziak (Poland) in a chamber ensembles category. Honourable mentions have been garnered to three pianists: Ruslan Kazakov (Russia), Adam Mikołaj Goździewski (Poland) and Krzysztof Kozłowski (Poland), as well as three chamber ensembles: Popko / Thieu-Quang (Poland), the Dobrowolski / Słapiński Duo (Poland) and Trio Legend (Poland).

There have also been special prizes for the best interpretations of compositions by specific composers. They have been won by Carter Johnson (performing a composition by Stanisław Moniuszko), Jakub Cetnarowski (Poland, for his interpretation of Władysław Żeleński) and Ivan Shemchuk (for his rendition of a work by Henryk Pachulski). The Popko / Thieu-Quang duo has also received a special prize for the best performance of a composition written after 1945 – 500 euros – sponsored by the Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

The Jury has awarded no fewer than 38 additional prizes, most of them in the form of special concerts to be performed at prestigious philharmonic halls and at festivals in Poland and abroad.

The Award Ceremony and Prize Winners Concert will be held on 18 September at 7 p.m. The prize winners of the Competition will perform alongside the Orchestra of the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic in Rzeszów directed by Massimiliano Caldi and Tomasz Chmiel. The Prize Winners Concert will be repeated on 20 September at 7 p.m. at the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Competition website: https://www.konkursmuzykipolskiej.pl/

Tickets: http://filharmonia.pl/; http://www.filharmonia.rzeszow.pl/

Toruń | "Great Composers – Great Anniversaries": In the Rhythm of Tango – Concert on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Astor Piazzolla's birth

With a concert entitled "In the Rhythm of Tango", the Toruń Symphony Orchestra returns to the long-term project "Great Composers – Great Anniversaries". The event on 19 September 2021 at 5 p.m. in the Chamber Hall of CKK Jordanki will celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of the outstanding Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. The project is also a part of the celebration of the European Funds Open Days.

"Great Composers – Great Anniversaries" is a Toruń Symphony Orchestra's project to commemorate artists who celebrate important anniversaries in 2021. It is a series of 12 events featuring symphonic and chamber concerts, recitals, a poster exhibition, film screening and a lecture.

Today, Astor Piazzolla's name is synonymous with a transformed tango, combined with elements of jazz and classical music – nuevo tango, which, instead of living in taverns, has found its place in concert halls. During the concert in Toruń, Ulla Saxophone Trio, Martyna Ciok-Rycak (vocal) and Michał Bator (drums) will perform Yo Soy from the opera Maria de Buenos Aires, Cuatro estaciones porteñas (Four Seasons of Buenos Aires), Adiós Nonino – one of the most beautiful compositions by the master of tango nuevo, dedicated to the memory of the artist's father, Vicente Piazzolla, and the famous Libertango. Different faces of nuevo tango reveal to the audience other compositions by the master of bandoneon: Oblivion and Tanti Anni Prima from the film Henry IV directed by Marco Bellocchio as well as Escualo and Fuga y misterio.

The event will take place in a hybrid form: both with the participation of the audience in the CKK Jordanki Chamber Hall, and in the form of livestreaming on the Toruń Symphony Orchestra YouTube channel. Free tickets to be collected at the CKK Jordanki ticket office.

Co-financed in the "Music" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://tos.art.pl/wydarzenia/w-rytmie-tanga

Toruń | Verdi Gala – 120th Death Anniversary of "The King of Opera" Giuseppe Verdi

"Great Composers – Great Anniversaries" is a Toruń Symphony Orchestra's project to commemorate artists who celebrate important anniversaries in 2021. The concert on 26 September at 5 p.m. in the CKK Jordanki Concert Hall will be devoted to Giuseppe Verdi.

The project celebrates the following anniversaries: the 280th anniversary of the death of A. Vivaldi, the 100th anniversary of the death of C. Saint-Saëns, the 50th anniversary of the death of I. Stravinsky, the 230th anniversary of the death of W.A. Mozart, the 110th anniversary of the death of G. Mahler, the 100th anniversary of the death of W. Żeleński, and the 120th anniversary of the death of G. Verdi.

Giuseppe Verdi, as a precursor of musical verism, assumed that opera should talk about matters affecting ordinary people, with their weaknesses, flaws and immersion in everyday life, but also, as a passionate patriot, he reflected patriotic and national ideals in his works. The "Verdi Gala" concert will feature a selection of arias, duets and overtures from the most popular operas of the "king of opera" performed by the soloists Gabriela Gołaszewska and Piotr Buszewski alongside the Toruń Symphony Orchestra led by its first guest conductor Adam Banaszak.

All audience members are invited to the half-hour introductory meeting with an opera expert Jerzy Snakowski. The meeting will start at 4 p.m. in the Chamber Hall of CKK Jordanki.

Co-financed under the "Music" programme implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://tos.art.pl/

Wrocław | 'O Magnum Misterium': Farewell Concert of Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny

This special evening on 30 September 2021 at 7 p.m. will surely be particularly romantic, thanks to the farewell concert programme. The NFM Choir, well known to Wrocław audiences, led for the last time by Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, will perform at the National Forum of Music.

The concert features works very close to Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny and performed many times by the NFM Choir during fifteen years of work under her direction. The programme includes pieces performed at the beginning of the choir's existence – such as Anton Bruckner's gradual Os justi meditabitur sapientiam – as well as those presented a little later, e.g. Stoi lód na Prośnie by Jacek Sykulski, a piece performed during the concert on the 10th anniversary of the choir's activity, and completely new ones, including Marek Raczyński's Chciałbym zaśpiewać Ci to text by Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, which was premiered last year. The second criterion in the selection of pieces for this exceptional concert was the willingness to show the diversity of the choir's repertoire. Hence, the programme includes sacred compositions of three Christian churches: Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Evangelical. The second half of the concert will present the choir's secular repertoire. It will feature both French Impressionist and German Romantic compositions. The two contrasting parts of the concert will be linked by Jan Krotul's Vulnerasti cor meum to the text from the biblical Song of Songs, specially commissioned by the National Forum of Music.

The programme will aso feature religious compositions recorded on the last two albums of the NFM Choir: De profundis (2016) and Ubi caritas (2018), including contemporary Polish choral works to biblical psalms, such as Ubi Caritas by Paweł Łukaszewski, Chwali, dusze moja, Gospoda by Romuald Twardowski, Beatus vir by Miłosz Bembinow or De profundis by Marcin Łukaszewski. We will listen to three choral motets a cappella: Anton Bruckner's Os justi meditabitur sapientiam, Francis Poulenc's Magnum Mysterium and Felix Mendelssohn's Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen. Two pieces with piano accompaniment performed by Katarzyna Neugebauer-Jastrzębska will certainly stand out from the rest of the compositions: Vulnerasti cor meum and Madrigale, Op. 35 by Gabriel Fauré.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl/en/component/nfmcalendar/event/8665

Warsaw | Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra: Verdi, Mercadante and Tchaikovsky

The Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra will perform on 16 October 2021 at 7 p.m. at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw under the baton of Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, a member of the orchestra's Arts Council. We will hear works by Giuseppe Verdi, Saverio Mercadante and Piotr Tchaikovsky. The concert is co-organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance within the framework of the "Conductor-in-residence" programme.

The Italian Saverio Mercadante, of a generation close to Rossini, was a prominent opera creator in his time. His rich oeuvre remains largely forgotten today, with the exception of the work of the only eighteen-year-old composer – Flute Concerto No. 2 in E minor, loved especially for the final Rondo russo, one of the great hits of classical music, eagerly performed by flutists as an encore. During the October concert, the work will be performed by Łukasz Długosz, one of the most versatile and highly-regarded flutists of his generation.

The Italian part of the programme also includes the overture to the opera The Force of Destiny by Giuseppe Verdi, pulsating with emotions, full of beautiful melodies. What does this work have in common with Tchaikovsky's latest symphony? Both works premiered in St. Petersburg (Verdi's opera in 1862).

Due to its expressive aura, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, probably as no other symphony in the history of music, deserved the name "Tragique", as Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother and confidant, suggested. Pyotr, however, preferred his second suggestion and right after the premiere, he added the subtitle "Pathetique", suggested by his brother, to the score. The composer died nine days after the premiere of the piece, most probably due to an acute cholera attack. He did not leave any programme or commentary to the symphony. All we can do is guess and, primarily, delight upon the piece characterised by great expression, the piece that is Romantic to the bone, filled with exaltation and unconventional elements.

Anna Sułkowska-Migoń, appointed resident conductor of the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra in the 2021/2022 season, participated in the preparation of the concert.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://sinfoniaiuventus.pl/en/

Coryphaeus of Polish Music 2021 – submit your nomination!

The 11th edition of the "Coryphaeus of Polish Music" award of the Polish music community has officially started. Nominations for candidates can be submitted until 29 September 2021 through the website www.koryfeusz.org.pl in the categories: "Personality of the Year", "Event of the Year" and "Honorary Award", as well as in the "Discovery of the Year" category for debuting artists. Nominations may be submitted by people associated with the Polish musical life.

The Programme Council of the National Institute of Music and Dance will select the nominees from the submitted nominations. The award in the "Discovery of the Year" category will be awarded by the audience in an open online voting, which will be held between 8 and 13 October at www.koryfeusz.org.pl. The winners in the three remaining categories will be selected by a secret ballot by the Electoral College, whose members are representatives of musical organisations and institutions in the country as well as all the past winners of the "Coryphaeus of Polish Music" award.

The winners will be announced during the gala awards ceremony, which will broadcast from the TVP Kultura studio on 14 November 2021. The winners will receive statuettes designed by professor Adam Myjak, rector of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Read more about the award at: www.koryfeusz.org.pl.

The Coryphaeus of Polish Music [Koryfeusz Muzyki Polskiej] award has been awarded by the Polish music community to its most outstanding representatives since 2011. The award is a distinction for individuals, groups of artists and institutions operating in the field of diverse – in terms of genres and chronology – Polish music. The Coryphaeus of Polish Music is awarded to authors, performers, musicologists, critics, journalists, humanists, researchers, animators, promoters and managers of culture, groups of artists, as well as institutions, artistic events and various creative, animation and educational projects. The award is granted for achievements in the past artistic season, with the exception of the Honorary Award for lifetime achievement. The organiser of the award is the National Institute of Music and Dance.

In the eleven-year history, the Coryphaeus of Polish Music in the category of "Personality of the Year" was awarded to: composers Agata Zubel, Zygmunt Krauze and Paweł Mykietyn, conductor Łukasz Borowicz, singers Piotr Beczała and Jan Jakub Orliński, saxophonist Maciej Obara and pianists Szymon Nehring, Włodek Pawlik, and Lutosławski Piano Duo – Emilia Sitarz and Bartek Wąsik.

The award in the "Discovery of the Year" category has been awarded to flautist Marianna Żołnacz, organist Karol Mossakowski, soprano sisters Joanna Zawartko and Aleksandra Olczyk, and the duo Zuzanna Budzyńska (violinist) and Szymon Ogryzek (pianist).

Musical "Events of the Year" were: the 16th edition of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, projects of the National Audiovisual Institute carried out as part of the European Culture Congress, the opening of the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice, the opening of the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra in Katowice and the National Music Forum in Wrocław, as well as Krystian Zimerman's concert at the "Warsaw Autumn", Grammy award for the album Penderecki conducts Penderecki vol. 1, a triple premiere of Agata Zubel Fireworks, awarded with the European Composer Award, the project "10/40 Quartet in Museums" on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the artistic activity of the Silesian Quartet and the premiere of the opera Drach by Aleksander Nowak at the festival AUKSODRONE.

The "Honorary Award" has been granted to: Jan Krenz, Wojciech Kilar, Jan Ekier, Mieczysław Tomaszewski, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jan "Ptaszyn" Wróblewski, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, Wiesław Ochman and Włodzimierz Nahorny.

Elbląg | Opening of Elbląg Chamber Orchestra Concert Season: Premiere of Sławomir Czarnecki's "Truso"

The new concert season of the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra will open on 10 October 2021 at 6:00 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the State Music School Complex in Elbląg. Chamber musicians under the baton of Michał Dworzyński will present the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Krzysztof Penderecki and Sławomir Czarnecki.

The soloist of the evening will be Mariusz Klimsiak – an artist who feels equally comfortable in a concert hall and in a lecture hall. The pianist began his musical career in Bydgoszcz, and today he can boast performances in Italy (Florence), Spain (Alicante) and the USA (Seattle, San Francisco). He combines his solo career with teaching – he is the dean of the Instrumental Department of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz.

The programme will include Krzysztof Penderecki's Three Pieces in Old Style, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto in E flat major KV 271, as well as the premiere of Sławomir Czarnecki's Truso. The title of the latter work reveals the composer's direct source of inspiration. Truso is an authentic settlement from the early Middle Ages, the existence of which, apart from written sources, is confirmed by archaeological excavations in recent years. It was located near today's Elbląg. The settlement situated on a wide bay was a great commercial port known in the entire Baltic region. Its cultural influence was also important. As the composer emphasizes, "The first source of inspiration is expressed in archaic sounds and raw harmony, as well as in simple diatonic motifs, the nature of which, in some distant reflection, is supposed to bring to mind contemporary sailing melodies of the "shanties" genre. The second source of inspiration is the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra itself.” Truso is an orchestral poem presenting the wide range of textures, from powerful tutti to virtuoso solo parts of a concertante character. The piece was created as part of the "Composing Commissions" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket information: https://www.eok.elblag.eu/wydarzenia/215

The first international online festival "Women in Music" is about to start!

The Polish Chamber Musicians' Association is organising the first international online festival "Women in Music". The programme of the event aimed at promoting female composers and their work will include music by artists from Poland and Great Britain. The concerts will be made available on the Association's YouTube channel on 4, 5, 11, and 12 October 2021.

The concerts recorded at the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre in Gdańsk will feature works by Wanda Landowska, Régine Wieniawski, Grażyna Bacewicz, Łucja Szablewska, Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska, Anna Rocławska-Musiałczyk, as well as Roxanna Panufnik, Judith Weir, Rebecci Clarke, Elaine Hugh-Jones and Elisabeth Lutyens. Among the performers will be also women: violist Katarzyna Budnik, violinists Katarzyna Duda and Jaga Klimaszewska, pianists Julia Kociuban, Julia Samojło and Monika Gardoń-Preinl.

The concert to be broadcast on 4 October was realised with the support of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London – it was performed by the GSMD's graduates: sopranos Magdalena Molendowska, Katherine McIndoe and pianist Julia Samojło.

The event is held under the honorary patronage of Mieczysław Struk, Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, President of the City of Gdańsk, and the British Embassy in Warsaw.

The project is funded by the Pomeranian Voivodeship and co-financed by the City of Gdańsk and the Gdańsk Economic Development Foundation.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://spmk.com.pl/projekt/kobiety-w-muzyce-women-in-music/

Katowice | 9th Festival of Premieres: Kulenty, Stańczyk and Krzewińska

The concert on 3 October 2021 at 6.00 p.m. as part of the autumn edition of the 9th Festival of Premieres, organised every two years at the NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice, will feature new compositions by Hanna Kulenty, Marcin Stańczyk and Katarzyna Krzewińska.

The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Franck Ollu and the soloist Matthijs Koene will premiere Ad-Umbro for pan flute and symphony orchestra by Hanna Kulenty. The composer explains the concept of the work: "I had been carrying the idea of the piece Ad-Umbro (from Latin: shade, sketch, briefly present, indicate, imitate) for over a year, because in the summer of 2018 I met Matthijs Koene, a virtuoso from the Netherlands. I would never have come up with the idea of writing a piece for such an unusual instrument, but after listening to a few concerts by Matthijs and finding out what his technical and musical possibilities are, I wanted to write another composition for him, based on my new technique that I have used for several years, which I called “Musique Surrealistique.”

Marcin Stańczyk's Live for saxophone, ensemble and tape will be premiered by musicians of the National Radio Symphony Orchestra and one of the most famous European saxophonists – Paweł Gusnar, Professor of the Frydryk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. Katarzyna Krzewińska will perform live electronics. Her piece #nofilter for a large symphony orchestra and live electronics is a reflection on the "computerization" of the world and an attempt to illustrate the omnipresent information noise, which paradoxically increases the feeling of emptiness and longing. The work was inspired by Mariusz Szczygieł's book Nie ma [There is no], awarded with the Nike Literary Award in 2019.

The publisher of works by Hanna Kulenty and Marcin Stańczyk is PWM Edition. The project was co-financed under the "Music" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket information: https://nospr.org.pl/pl/kalendarz/9-festiwal-prawykonan-nospr-franck-ollu

official patronage

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