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The 10th edition of th New Music Days will take place in Gdańsk on 4-12 January 2020. The programme of the festival proves that every music genre can go beyond beaten paths, inspire and surprise, with the key being experiment and risk.

The idea behind the anniversary edition is to combine electronics with multicultural inspirations, contemporary music and its diverse instruments with fiery avant-garde and minimalism. The festival will feature Kevin Richard Martin, Innercity Ensemble, Daniel Blumberg, Seymour Wright, and Joshua Sabin.

The premiere of a multimedia performance commissioned by the festival, Eye and Ear. Narcissus and Echo, will take place on 4 and 5 January and will be presented by pianist Małgorzata Walentynowicz, and visual artist working in the field of photography, new media, installations and performance, Dorota Walentynowicz. The Tri-City ensemble LowBow, composed of double bassist Maciej Sadowski and cellist Małgorzata Znarowska, will perform on 9 January, presenting works from the album murmurs, which stylistically refers to the folklore of Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. The famous composer, arranger and performer Wim Mertens will set off on a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his musical career. On 11 January, he will perform a special solo programme presenting his works from the years 1980–2020.

Kwartludium and Wim Mertens, participants of the first edition of the festival, will perform during the final concert, which will take place on 12 January. The programme will include works by Piotr Peszat, Ivo Nilsson, Krzysztof Wołek, Wojciech Blażejczyk and Lithuanian composer Giedrė Pauliukevičiūtė.

The organizer of the New Music Days festival is Club Żak, and the festival is subsidised by the City of Gdańsk.

Full programme available at: https://klubzak.com.pl/koncerty.html 

The New World, the main theme of the symphonic concert on 7 January 2020 at 7 p.m. in the National Forum of Music, can be understood in two ways. On the one hand, it means the works of European composers written in the United States, on the other – the pre-war debut of one of the most important artists of the last century, whose works opened previously non-existent worlds of sounds.

The Symphonic Variations, an early work by Witold Lutosławski, performed for the first time in 1938, is such a pioneering work. They were supposed to be the artist’s diploma, however, his composition teacher found them too radical, so Lutosławski presented another piece. The Variations officially debuted in the artistic circles of pre-war Poland. This short work already shows in the bud the most important elements of the composer's craft: on the one hand, shimmering colors, on the other – a construction planned down to the smallest detail.

Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3 was created at the end of the composer's life, during his stay in the United States. The work was written as a birthday present for the composer’s wife pianist Ditta Pásztory-Bartók. It is light in the mood, sometimes even joyful, in the middle it also contains fragments referred to as “music of the night”, i.e. episodes inspired by sounds made by the composer's favorite insects. Piotr Anderszewski, one of the most respected interpreters of his work, will be the soloist in the Bartók piece.

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World” by Antonín Dvořák was also written in the United States. At that time, the composer was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, so he decided to draw inspiration from negro spirituals and native American music. However, he did not quote any original American melodies, and developed the whole intricately using European composing techniques. The premiere of this work full of heroic mood was one of the composer's greatest triumphs ever, and the symphony has enjoyed unflagging popularity ever since.

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

The annual Christmas Concert will take place at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Toruń on 6 January 2020 at 5:00 p.m. The programme will include the most beautiful traditional Christmas carols.

The organizers' idea is that every year a new arrangement of Christmas carols has its grand premiere during the special concert. The new arrangement is to be only a humble but creative vision of composers with special respect for Polish tradition. This year Jędrzej Rochecki was invited to arrange the Christmas carols series.

The works will be performed by the Schola Cantorum Thorunensis, Saint Anthony Notes Children's Schola and the instrumental ensemble conducted by Paweł Głowiński. The organizers of the concert are the Musica Vera Association and the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Toruń.

During the concert the church will be heated. The admission is free!

The most beautiful Polish carols will be performed by the choir and chamber orchestra of the Opera at the Castle in Szczecin conducted by Małgorzata Bornowska on 4 January 2020 at 7:30 p.m. in the St. Nicholais Orthodox Church and on 5 January 2020 at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Adalbert Garrison Church in Szczecin.

Silent Night is a concert of Christmas carols for choir and chamber string orchestra written in 2006. It is a collection of a dozen or so traditional Polish Christmas carols, arranged by the Warsaw composer Maciej Małecki in an original, but classical way. The string orchestra accompanying the vocal ensemble gives a special atmosphere to the whole work, making each carol have its own unique character. The collection is also enriched by three pastoral pieces by Maciej Małecki, two of which are intended for the a cappella choir.

Information on tickets available at: http://www.opera.szczecin.pl/ 

On 31 December 2019 at 6:00 p.m. and on 1 January 2020 at 4.00 p.m. the Henryk Wieniawski Lublin Philharmonic will host New Year's Eve concerts entitled "Tango my love".

The world-famous violinist Krzysztof Jakowicz with the accompaniment of the "Tango Attack" (Grzegorz Bożewicz – bandoneon, Piotr Malicki – guitar, Hadrian Filip Tabęcki – piano, arrangements) and the Symphony Orchestra of the Lublin Philharmonic conducted by Jakub Chrenowicz will present to the audience a set of great old Polish tangos.

The programme will include, among others, Graj skrzypku graj! by Władysław Lidauer, Pamiętam twoje oczy and Serce Matki by Zygmunt Karasiński, Złociste chryzantemy by Zbigniew Maciejowski, Odrobina szczęścia by Jerzy Petersburgski and Zakochany by Feliks Frachowicz. Special guests of the concert will be Uruguayan singer Andres Martorell and dancers Urszula Wojtkowiak and Piotr Woźniak.

More information at: http://filharmonialubelska.pl/