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Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

Stanisław Moniuszko Grand Theater in Poznań invites you to the New Year's ballet gala on January 26-28, 2024 - it is a journey through the world of ballet presenting its various versions, styles and aesthetics. Lovers of the most beautiful classical ballets and contemporary choreographic miniatures will find something for themselves.

Poznań dancers will perform the most interesting excerpts of choreography from the extensive repertoire of the Grand Theater Ballet, prepared by recognized artists from around the world. Those will include "Don Quixote" by Ludwig Minkus bursting with ballet fireworks, as well as duets full of disturbing beauty choreographed by contemporary artists.

We will see dance miniatures to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Cesare Pugni, Johann Strauss, Joseph Shabason, Howard Harper-Barnes, Jule Styne, Radiohead, as well as the duet of Paris and Helena from the ballet Troy(n) by Gabriel Kaczmarek, choreographed by Viktor Davydiuk.

Ticket information: https://opera.poznan.pl/pl/kalendarium 

On the 13^th of January, Romuald Twardowski (1930-2024), the doyen of Polish composers, a member of the Polish Composers' Union since 1960 died in Warsaw at the age of 93.

Romuald Twardowski left a huge and diverse compositional legacy. He was the creator of symphonic, chamber and choral works, operas and ballets, and the winner of many prestigious composition competitions in Poland and abroad. Among his many competition triumphs, the most important include the 1^st prize at the Young Composers' Competition of the Polish Composers' Union in 1961 for the work Antifone per tre gruppi d'orchestra, the 2^nd place at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris in 1963 for Ode to Youth, the two first prizes at the Prince Rainier III International Composition Competition in Monaco in 1965 - for the ballet-pantomime The Sorcerer's Statues - and in 1973, for the musical drama Lord Jim. A unique place among these distinctions is taken by the 1^st prize at the competition organized to celebrate the 550^th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald for the piece Warmińska Suite.

The Polish Composers' Union honored the Composer with its prestigious Annual Award in 1995. Ignacy Jan Paderewski American Foundation awarded him for outstanding artistic achievements in 2007. In 2010, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage awarded the Artist the Gold Medal "Gloria Artis". He was also honored with the Knight's Cross, Officer's Cross and Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

We will miss his friendly visits to the ZKP office, and we say goodbye to him with great regret.

May he rest in  peace.

Mieczysław Kominek

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

As part of the "Opole Philharmonic Chamber" series on the 26^th of January, 2024 at 7 p.m., Wolańska - Gajda Duo will perform, i.e. pianist Julia Wolańska-Gajda and accordionist Michał Gajda.

The artists will present Witold Lutosławski's Variations on a Theme of Paganini, full of intense emotions, and Sonata for accordion and piano, Op. 57 by Bernhard Molique, Prélude, Fugue et Variation Op.18 by César Franck and tangos by Astor Piazzolla.

In 2021, the DUX label released Duo’s debut album Trankrypton with original arrangements of classical music masterpieces, some of which we will hear during the January concert.

W wieku 71 lat 19 stycznia 2024 roku zmarła światowej sławy polska śpiewaczka Ewa Podleś... Pożegnanie Artystki odbędzie się 25 stycznia o 11:30 w Kościele Rzymskokatolickim Środowisk Twórczych (Warszawa, plac Teatralny 18).

Jej piękny kontralt o rzadko spotykanej barwie, znakomity warsztat, wirtuozeria, wszechstronność pozwalały artystce na wykonywanie repertuaru od baroku do współczesności, na najbardziej prestiżowych scenach operowych i estradach koncertowych świata. Grupa międzynarodowych krytyków muzycznych Classic FM Magazine zaliczyła Ewę Podleś do 10 najlepszych głosów mezzosopranowych pierwszej dekady XXI wieku, a Operaarts.com do ekskluzywnego grona 100 operowych legend ostatniego półwiecza.

Ewa Podleś koncertowała również ze swoim mężem, pianistą Jerzym Marchwińskim, oraz występowała z towarzyszeniem tak słynnych orkiestr, jak m.in. San Francisco Symphony, NHK Tokyo, Berliner Philharmoniker.

The musicologist Jerzy Stankiewicz, vice-president of the Cracow Branch of the Polish Composers' Union, was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic for "his exceptional contribution to cultivating the memory of the work of Olivier Messiaen and the connections he created between France and Poland in the cultural and historical field." The award ceremony took place on the 22^nd of January at the Embassy of the Republic of France in Warsaw.