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A series of "Koneser Summer" events will take place in the completely renovated Koneser vodka factory in Warsaw until 25 August 2019.

Film screenings, meetings, lots of concerts and attractions for children ... This is what this year's "Connoisseur Summer" promises to be. It is a great opportunity to visit this climatic place in Prague district and spend time in good company. Everyone should find something for themselves: from singles, through families with children, to seniors. Attractions are planned for the whole holiday and different projects are carried out every day.

Starting from 14 July, every Sunday at 7.00 pm there will be concerts feturing such musicians as: Szymon Nehring, Ania Karpowicz, Marek Bracha, winners of the Ada Sari Vocal Competition in Nowy Sącz, Adam Strug, Penderecki Piano Trio, Trimagine, and ROKduo.The programme will include chamber works of Franz Schubert, Sergiusz Rachmaninow, Claude Debussy, Aaron Copland as well as forgotten songs in Yiddish and Polish from the archives of the New York Institute for Jewish Research and Lifshe Schaechter-Widmann. Polish repertoire will include songs by Stanisław Moniuszko, compositions by Fryderyk Chopin, Tadeusz Zygfryd Kasserna and Mieczysław Weinberg.

Admission to the concerts is free.

More information at: http://koneser.eu/wydarzenia/lato-konesera-klasyczne-niedziele/ 

W tym roku Elbląska Orkiestra Kameralna zaspokoiła ich pragnienia wraz z Kasią Moś i jej zespołem pod dyrygenckim okiem maestro Marka Mosia. Artyści podążyli śladami twórcy polskiej opery narodowej – Stanisława Moniuszki.

Festiwal upłynął w tempie wyznaczonym przez pieśni ze Śpiewników domowych (zaaranżowane przez Mateusza Mosia i Mateusza Kołakowskiego), które wypełniły gotyckie kościoła Pasłęka, Elbląga i Krzyżanowa. Szczypta liryzmu, odrobina nostalgii, nuta romantyzmu – tak skomponowana muzyczna uczta zaspokoiła gusta wszystkich melomanów. Dowodem wielominutowe owacje i trzykrotny bis, którym Orkiestra i jej goście zwieńczyli każdy koncert. Jak zapewniła Kasia Moś, „to dopiero wstęp do naszej przygody ze Stanisławem Moniuszką, którą – jestem przekonana – jeszcze nie raz przeżyjemy z Elbląską Orkiestrą Kameralną”.

Dzięki zaangażowaniu publiczności festiwal „Muzyka Polska na Warmii i Żuławach” osiągnęła status muzycznej wizytówki miasta i regionu, bez której nie sposób sobie wyobrazić lokalnego życia kulturalnego. Kościoły wypełnione po brzegi to dla artystów najważniejsza motywacja do nieustannego rozwijania idei Festiwalu, którego kolejna edycja odbędzie się w następnym roku.

Tomasz Czapla

Between 14 July and 1 September 2019 the Gorzów Philharmonic will host a series of open-air concerts entitled "Chopin Picnics".

Every Sunday at 4 pm, until the end of the summer, the musicians will play at the Square of Arts. Every week for about two hours, the beautiful green areas around the Gorzów Philharmonic will became a place of a unique urban picnic featuring music of Fryderyk Chopin as well as Karol Szymanowski or Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The masterpieces of Polish music will be performed by young talented pianists: Bartłomiej Kokot, Michał Mossakowski, Piotr Pawlak, Piotr Orlow, Wiktoria Jagodzińska and Martyna Kubik.

The final concert, organized in connection with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Stanisław Moniuszko, will feature Belarusian pianist Ekaterina Matokh and a duo composed of Beata Gramza (soprano) and Marta Ożelska-Kurzawa (piano). The musicians will present Moniuszko's songs and piano works.

In case of bad weather, the concerts will take place inside the Philharmonic. Admission to all summer concerts is free!

Full programme available at: https://www.filharmoniagorzowska.pl/ 

On 12 July 2019, President Andrzej Duda signed a decision to grant posthumously Order of Polonia Restituta First Class, the Great Cross, to Bogusław Schaeffer. Among Polish civilian awards, the Order is second only to the rarely awarded Order of the White Eagle.

Bogusław Schaeffer, one of the most original figures on the Polish music scene, has died on 1 July 2019 in Salzburg. His funeral will take place on 16 July at the Municipal Cemetery in Salzburg. During the ceremony, the outstanding composer and music historian will be posthumously awarded the Great Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Bogusław Schaeffer distinguished himself by extremely wide creative interests, a consistently avant-garde attitude and controversial aesthetic views. As a composer, he was very innovative and bold in experimenting with new forms, genres and types of music. As one of the first Polish artists, he took up electronic music. The first Polish musical happening was his work Non-stop (1960). He was also the first on in Poland to compose in the genre of instrumental theater in the TIS MW2 (1963) work written for the famous experimental group MW2. Almost in every work he solved a new compositional problem, challenging the Polish musical milieu and arousing lively discussions on new music. He was an outstanding theoretician of new music. His work New music. The problems of contemporary compositional technique (1958) remain the basic theoretical source in this field, and Introduction to Composition (1976) is the only one of its kind in the world literature. Stefan Kisielewski called Bogusław Schaeffer "the father of new music in Poland."

The city of Kraków will commemorate the Professor with a plaque in the National Pantheon in the St. Peter and Paul church's vault. In October, the 11th edition of the Scheaffer's Era Festival will take place in Warsaw, Łódź and Katowice. Each festival's performance will be a multimedia show combined with acting and exhibition of  Schaeffer's graphic works. Moreover, the premiere of Rehelsals (Próby) directed by Mikołaj Grabowski at the 'Polonia' Theater in Warsaw is planned for the autumn.

Organist Emanuel Bączkowski and accordionist Jakub Barycz will perform on 11 July 2019 at 7.30 pm in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Polanica-Zdrój as part of the 28th International Concerts of Organ and Chamber Music.

International Concerts of Organ and Chamber Music in Polanica-Zdrój is a festival presenting great works of classical and contemporary music performed by renowned artists from Poland and abroad. In addition to important artistic goals, the concerts play a significant educational role through lectures on the history of music as well as socio-cultural role by cultivating the centuries-old tradition of concertising in the Lower Silesian temples, raising the cultural and tourist attractiveness of the region and promoting Polish musical culture among tourists from abroad.

The programme of this year's edition of the Festival will include works by outstanding organ music composers (J.S. Bach, F. Mendelsohn-Bartholdy, J. Pachelbel, G.F. Handel et al.) as well as organ transcriptions of classical and contemporary instrumental music. The concert on 11 July will feature Marian Sawa's Lauds (Jutrznia) and organ improvisations by Emanuel Bączkowski.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

DOWNLOAD: Festival Programme