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On September 28, 2018 at 7:00 p.m., during the concert inaugurating the 73rd artistic season of the National Forum of Music,  the world-famous Danish violinist Nikolai Znaider will perform Karol Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 2.

Karol Szymanowski wrote his Second Violin Concerto in 1932 and 1933. It was performed for the first time with violinist Paweł Kochański, under the baton of Grzegorz Fitelberg, at the Warsaw Philharmonic on October 6, 1933. Szymanowski’s childhood friends included the pianist Artur Rubinstein and the Paweł Kochański and he often composed with them in mind. After moving to America In the early 1920s, Kochański received a letter from Szymanowski who described writing the Second Violin Concerto as, "squeezed out of me, as out of a desiccated tube of toothpaste." Departing from his earlier modernist style, Szymanowski said the work was "horribly sentimental… beating all records of sentimentality… I am almost ashamed of myself!!"

The programme of the concert will be complemented by Carnival – concert overture, Op. 92 Antonin Dvořák and Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 by Johannes Brahms. The NFM Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra will be led by Giancarlo Guerrero. The project is carried out as part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining independence.

More information at: http://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl

On September 28, 2018 at 7:00 p.m., the Opole Philharmonic will inaugurate its 67th  artistic season.

The concert will be opened by the Joyful Overture in D major, Op. 11 by Witold Maliszewski. The work written while the composer was studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory is an explosion of youth and sincere enthusiasm The programme will also include Na wdzięcznej Polaków ziemi by Józef Elsner, the patron of the Philharmonic. Formally, it is the final fragment of a larger work, entitled Karol Wielki y Witykind: a historical drama in two acts written in verse. The second part of the evening will be filled with a great, romantic composition: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 by Johannes Brahms. The works will be performed by the Opole Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Przemysław Neumann.

Information on tickets at: https://filharmonia.opole.pl

The 9th edition of La Folle Journée "Towards a New World" will take place on September 28-30, 2018. The Polish edition of the largest classical music festival returns to Teatr Wielki – the National Opera, featuring 55 concerts with the participation of 1000 artists.

This year’s theme of La Folle Journée focuses on composers whose lives were marred by emigration. In this context, the Warsaw edition of the Festival on the 100th anniversary of Poland’s regaining its independence places particular emphasis on music written by our composers. The programme of the Festival includes works that have become established landmarks of the canon of national culture, and also unusual interpretations of the classics by artists of the young generation. During the Festival we will also hear for the first time winning works from the “Warsaw Polonaise for an Independent Poland” composing competition.

On Friday (28.09) pianist Piotr Orzechowski “Pianohooligan” and saxophone player Kuba Więcek will face the music of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. Pianohooligan will also perform on Saturday (29.09) together with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michał Klauza. That concert will include performances of works by Mieczysław Weinberg and Henryk Wars, both of whom were linked with Warsaw and its fate in the 20th century. Equally intriguing is a joint project by Sinfonia Varsovia Brass and the Adam Bałdych Quartet (29.09). The artists will present unusual, jazzy interpretations of works by Witold Lutosławski and Mieczysław Karłowicz for improvising violin, brass ensemble and rhythm section.

The programme of La Folle Journée also includes concerts showcasing an imposing collection of Polish works from the past 200 years. The Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, the orchestra of Teatr Wielki – the National Opera and the National Philharmonic Orchestra will present a wide range of Polish symphonic music, including works by, among others, Karol Szymanowski, Alexandre Tansman, Stanisław Moniuszko and Wojciech Kilar. The Amadeus Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra will play works like the orchestral arrangement of Szymanowski’s Etude in B-flat minor to Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s youthful Suite for String Orchestra. The music of Frederic Chopin will also be present at the Festival, during a recital by Japanese pianist Etsuko Hirose. Our young performers also readily play Polish music. Selected music school symphony orchestras will perform works by, among others Feliks Nowowiejski, Henryk Czyż, Andrzej Panufnik and the best-known patriotic songs.

More information at: https://www.szalonednimuzyki.pl

The inaugural concert of the 9th International Music & Art Festival "Sfogato" will take place on September 27, 2018 at 7.00 p.m. in Decius Villa. The festival will last until December 7.

International "Sfogato" Music & Arts Festival is the only regular festival event in Kraków inspired purely by the music and creative personality of Fryderyk Chopin. It is symbolized by the name of the event – “sfogato”, the Italian word used for the first time by Fryderyk Chopin as a musical term to describe one of the episodes of his Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60.

This year's edition will revolve around the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence. In addition to the regular programme events: concert "Chopin Soiree" and conference "Music-Art-Media" under the leadership of prof. dr hab. Helena Wrona-Polańska, there will be some novelties, among others, a walk by the Krakow Route of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Fryderyk Chopin and other composers.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme available at: www.sfogatofestival.com 

On September 27, 2018 at 4.00 pm., the Warsaw branch of the Polish Music Publishing House (8 Fredry St.) will host a concert "Autumn 2018" from the cycle "Musical Seasons".

The programme of the concert, organized by the Warsaw Branch of Polish Composers' Union in cooperation with Polish Music Publishing House, will include works by Polish contemporary composers: Miłosz Bembinow, Artur Cieślak, Wojciech Łukaszewski, Pawel Łukaszewski, and Artur Żuchowski. In addition, the concert will feature the premiere of Zbigniew Bagiński's 5 preludes, written in 2017. The works will be performed by great musicians: soprano Anna Mikołajczyk-Niewiedział and pianists Marcin Tadeusz Łukaszewski and Julia Samojło. The author of the artistic concept of the event is composer Sławomir Czarnecki, president of the Warsaw Branch of the Polish Composers' Union.

The concert, being an accompanying event of the 61st International Festival of Contemporary Music "Warsaw Autumn", is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the "Music" programme. Admission free.