choir (C)

Chór Polskiego Radia

Fundacja Rozwoju Sztuki Sonoris, ul. Oleandry 2

30-063 Kraków

phone (+48) 606 722 378

fax (+48) 12 292 76 19

e-mail: kontakt@fundacjasonoris.org

www: www.fundacjasonoris.org

The Polish Radio Choir was founded by Jerzy Gert in October 1948. For almost 70 years of operation, the choir has been performing both unaccompanied works and vocal-instrumental forms that represent various styles and periods, with a particular focus on Polish music. Next to their concert activity, the Polish Radio Choir performs archival recordings for the Polish Radio and Television, as well as CD recordings for both national and foreign labels.

The Polish Radio Choir can pride itself on world premières of works by the most outstanding Polish contemporary composers, including Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Krzysztof Penderecki and Wojciech Kilar. The choir has participated in numerous national and international festivals, most recent of them being Wratislavia Cantans, Ludwig van Beethoven Festival, Polish Radio Music Festival, The Festival of World Premiers Polish Modern Music, Warsaw Autumn, Poznań Music Spring, Krakow Polish Music Festival, Misteria Paschalia, Sacrum Profanum Festival, International Festival of Sacred Music “Gaude Mater”, Krzysztof Penderecki Festival in Münster, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rossini Opera Festival, Settimana di Monreale, Sounds New Festival, the Europalia festival in Brussels. The recent years have also been rich in international concert tours, with the performance of Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, Amadeus Mozart’s Mass in C-minor and Franz Schubert’s Stabat Mater led by Avi Ostrowski (Israel), a tour of South Korea, a performance of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion (as part of the Polish Year celebrations in the UK) led by the composer himself, and a the staging of Szymanowski’s opera King Roger in Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels inaugurating the Polish EU presidency in 2011, among many others. The Polish Radio Choir has been permanently co-operating with the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Until March 2012, the Choir functioned within the structures of the Polish Radio (Polskie Radio S.A.). In October 2012, Polskie Radio S.A. and Sonoris Foundation for Art Development signed an agreement under which the Polish Radio Choir brand, its continuation and further development, were entrusted to the Foundation. The management board of Polskie Radio S.A. provided the Polish Radio Choir with a long-term support for the attainment of the radio’s public mission of cultivating and popularising the musical culture of Poland as part of the world’s cultural heritage.