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Warsaw | Concert of the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music's Chamber String Orchestra

On February 11, 2019 at 7.00 p.m., the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw will host a concert of the Chamber String Orchestra of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań under the direction of Marcin Suszycki.

The programme of the concert will include works of Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as Romanian folk dances BB 68, Sz. 56 by Béla Bartók. The evening will start with Poznań Poem, commissioned by the Poznań ensemble from Alina Kubik, a composer associated with the Wrocław Academy of Music. Concerto for accordion and string orchestra by Marcin Błażewicz will be performed by the Rector of FCUM Klaudiusz Baran, to whom the work was dedicated in 2012. The concert will end with Serenade for strings by Mieczysław Karłowicz, written during the composer's stay in Berlin in 1897 and inspired by Robert Volksmann's popular string serenades.

Free tickets available two weeks prior the concert at the University's main hall from Monday to Wednesday and on Friday from 4.00 to 7.00 p.m.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Elbląg | Classics with Stradivarius

A concert of the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra and Janusz Wawrowski will take place on February 17, 2019 in the Concert Hall of the State Music Schools Complex in Elbląg.

The programme of the evening will include Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043 – one of the greatest masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach, Concertino for violin and string orchestra, Op. 42 by Mieczysław Weinberg, as well as works by Antonio Vivaldi, Edward Grieg and Romuald Twardowski. Janusz Wawrowski will perform as a soloist and conductor. During the concert, the laureate of "Fryderyk" award will play on the first Stradivarius in Poland after the Second World War, remembering the times of King Jan Sobieski. Despite its centuries-old history, the violin remains in excellent condition. Paula Preuss will join the Elbląg chamber musicians musicians as a soloist. The concert will be led by Jarosław Praszczałek.

The event is held under the patronage of the PWM Edition as part of the TUTTI.pl project, promoting performances of Polish music.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Detailed programme available at: http://www.eok.elblag.eu/pl/news/klasyka-spod-stradivariusa-plynaca

Results of the 14th Polish Christmas Carols Competition in Chełmno

The 14th Polish Christmas Carols Competition – the largest choir festival of carols in the country – took place on January 19, 2019 in Chełmno.

After the auditions and discussion, the committee composed of: Joanna Łukaszewska, Michalina Spychalska, Izabela Łuckiewicz and prof. dr hab. Andrzej Ryłko, the chairman of the jury, decided to award the following prizes and distinctions.

The Grand Prix and the cash prize of PLN 2,000 went to the Cantus Vocal Ensemble from Leszno directed by Tomasz Sowiński!

The Golden Bands were awarded to: Chamber Choir Piu Mosso from Wrocław (conducted by Dominik Jarocki), Choir of the Jan III Sobieski LXXV High School in Warsaw (conducted by Liliana Bach), Chamber Choir Endorfina from Warsaw (conducted by Michał Rajewski), Vocal Ensemble Omnis Mea from Warsaw (conducted by Michał Rajewski, Edyta Sędzik), Vocal Ensemble Modo Maiorum from Warsaw (conducted by Michał Straszewski) and the Echo Choir from Łódź (conducted by Ewelina Bień).

The choirs Harmonia Sphaerarum from Gniew, Laudate Dominum from Wejherowo and Canto Alegre from Łódź received the Silver Bands and bonuses. Bronze Bands and valuable prizes were given to the the choirs: Sonore from Kleszczów, Lutnia from Więcbork, Cantate Domino from Malbork, Lutnia from Czersk, Lutnia from Luzina and Chawera from Swarzędz.

The jury also awarded several special prizes: for the Best Conductor to Dominik Jarocki – a cup funded by the Artistic Director of the Michał Rajewski Competition; for the best performance of the Lulajże Jezuniu carol to Modo Maiorum Vocal Ensemble from Warsaw; for cultivating the Kashubian language to Choir Lutnia from Luzina; and for the sound qualities to the Piu Mosso Chamber Choir from Wrocław.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Katowice | Concert in memory of Witold Lutosławski and Mieczysław Karłowicz

A concert on the 25th death anniversary of Witold Lutosławski and the 110th death anniversary of Mieczysław Karłowicz will take place in the headquarters of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice on February 7, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

The Orchestra under the baton of Antoni Wit will perform three works by the mentioned composers. Novelette (1980) by Witold Lutosławski, written for Mścisław Rostropowicz, then head of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, refers to Robert Schumann's piano cycle of the same (almost) title. Piano concerto (1988), dedicated to Krystian Zimerman, belongs to the last phase of Lutosławski's work, in which he drew more and more from romantic music – hence the reminiscences of Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninov, as well as Ravel and Bartók. Louis Lortie will perform as a soloist. The concert will end with Symphony in E minor "Rebirth" (1902) by Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909). Despite the perceptible influences of Tchaikovsky and Wagner, this work presents already crystallized foundations of the Young Poland's aesthetics: programme, pantheism, dark orchestral colorus.

The concert was produced under the patronage of PWM Edition as part of the project TUTTI.pl promoting the performance of Polish music.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: http://www.nospr.org.pl/pl/koncerty/1221/nospr-antoni-wit-louis-lortie

Katowice | The 8th Festival of Premieres "Polish Modern Music"

On the last weekend of March, the NOSPR invites music lovers to a special event: the 8th Festival of Premieres "Polish Modern Music". Tickets on sale from Tuesday, 29 January!

This year’s eighth edition of the festival will present premiere performances of nearly 30 works by Polish composers of various generations, from young novices to doyens of Polish art of composition, such as Zbigniew Bargielski, Ryszard Gabryś, Hanna Kulenty, Artur Zagajewski, Krzysztof Meyer, Piotr Moss, Aleksander Nowak, and Mikołaj Górecki.

Apart from the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the organiser of the event, the festival will host some of the foremost Polish ensembles, including the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, Camerata Silesia – the Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble, Silesian String Quartet, and the New Music Orchestra, as well as outstanding soloists: Linus Roth, Agata Zubel, Joanna Freszel, Dariusz Przybylski, Jadwiga Kotnowska, and Maciej Frąckiewicz.

The festival will be accompanied by music installations: Gdzieniegdzie [Here and there] by Paweł Hendrich and Tomasz Strojecki and mYear19 by Michał Moc.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme available at: http://www.nospr.org.pl/pl/

Debut of Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak in broadcast from The Metropolitan Opera to cinemas

After Adriana Lecouvreur with Piotr Beczała, another MET transmission with the participation of Polish singer is aheod of us. Aleksandra Kurzak will play Micaëli during the upcoming performance of Carmen at The Metropolitan Opera. The Warsaw Cinema Praha invites you to broadcast on February 2, 2019 at 6.35 p.m.

Aleksandra Kurzak made her debut in The Metropolitan Opera in 2004 in Hoffmann's Tales, and so far she sang on the famous New York scene over 40 times. However, in Carmen the Polish soprano will appear for the first time in the broadcast from the cycle "The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD". Bizet’s masterpiece of the gypsy seductress who lives by her own rules has had an impact far beyond the opera house. The opera’s melodic sweep is as irresistible as the title character herself, a force of nature who has become a defining female cultural figure. Carmen was a scandal at its premiere but soon after became a triumphal success and has remained one of the most frequently staged operas in the world.

The score of Carmen contains so many instantly recognizable tunes that it can be easy to overlook how well constructed it is. The major solos are excellent combinations of arresting melody and dramatic purpose—from the baritone’s famous Toreador Song to the tenor’s wrenching Flower Song to the title character’s alluring Habanera and Seguidilla—and the duets and ensembles are equally beguiling. Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her remarkable portrayal of opera’s ultimate seductress, a triumph in her 2017 debut performances, with impassioned tenors Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna as her lover, Don José. Omer Meir Wellber and Louis Langrée share conducting duties for Sir Richard Eyre’s powerful production, a Met favorite since its 2009 premiere.

The list of places in Poland, where you can watch broadcasts from Met, is available here.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: http://www.kinopraha.pl

Warsaw | The University's Composers In Memoriam

Students of the piano classes at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music will perform a concert in memory of the University's Composers on February 18, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the FCUM Concert Hall.

The programme of the concert will include piano works of composers associated with the University of Music in Warsaw: Juliusz Wertheim, Stefan Kisielewski, Jan Ekier, Marian Sawa, Władysław Żeleński, as well as Roman Statkowski and Grażyna Bacewicz, whose 160th death and 110th birthday anniversaries are celebrated this year. The concert is organised under the artistic supervision of Dr Monika Quinn.

Free entrance cards are available from February 4 at the Chopin University Press (Mon.–Fri., 4:00-7:00 p.m.) and via www.umfc.bilety24.pl.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Katowice | Weinberg in Poland

A chamber concert of the series "Weinberg in Poland" will be held on May 4, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall in Katowice.

The concert will feature chamber works by famous Varsovians: Piano Quartet in D minor, Op. 8 (before 1879) by Zygmunt Noskowski, String Quartet No. 14, Op. 122 (1978) by Mieczysław Weinberg and String Quartet No. 3 "On Polish folk themes" (1945) by Szymon Laks. The compositions will be performed by the Silesian Quartet – the laureates of this year's Polish Phonographic Academy Award "Fryderyk".

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: http://www.nospr.org.pl

Katowice | The Youth's Wednesday: Violinofonica

On February 13, 2019 at 7:30 p.m., the violin quartet Violinofonica will perform at the headquarters of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice as part of the concert series "The Youth's Wednesday".

Violinofnica Violin Quartet was founded in January 2017 by violinist Agnieszka Marucha, along with the most talented students of her class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. The ensemble aims to promote a rare repertoire for 4 violins and to help young violin players to gain stage experience. In the artistic season of 2018/2019, the quartet performed at the Ryszard Kapuściński awards ceremony in Warsaw, the Music Salon in Suwałki and the Korean Institute in Warsaw. In July 2018, the quartet debuted abroad during the Bosa Antica Festival in Italy.

The ensemble performs a wide repertoire (from baroque to the latest music), however its core is Polish music, including specifically commissioned works. Among them we will find Silesian Melodies by Weronika Olbrot and Migotanie by Iwona Kisiel, both composed in 2018. These works, which will be performed on February 13 in Katowice, had their world premiere in Italy during the 11th International Festival of Chamber Music of Bosa Antica. In addition, in the band's interpretation, we will listen to Duets on folk themes for two violins and Quartet for four violins by Grażyna Bacewicz, Four Silesian melodies by Witold Lutosławski and works by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Georg Friedrich Telemann and Jacob Dont.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: http://www.nospr.org.pl/pl/koncerty/1363/sroda-modych-kwartet-skrzypcowy-violinofonica

Katowice | Vivat Academia! 90th Jubilee of Karol Szymanowski Music Academy

The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music will celebrate its 90th jubilee on February 14, 2019 at 6.00 p.m. in the Archdiocesan Museum in Katowice.

The Institution for the Promotion and Dissemination of Music "Silesia" invites you to the next concert of the "Vivat Academia!" series, which include meetings with outstanding artists and professors at the Karol Szymanowski Music Academy in Katowice. The guest of the evening will be Professor Eugeniusz Knapik, who was the Rector of the Academy in 2002-2008 and for many years was the head of the Department of Composition and Theory of Music. He studied composition with Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and piano with Czesław Stańczyk, and still as a student, he began his didactic work at the Katowice Academy. He was the first performer of the cycle Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus by Olivier Messiaen in Poland. As a pianist, he participated in many prestigious concert and festival events around the world. As a composer, he received many awards at national and international competitions, including the UNESCO International Composers' Tribune in Paris (1978 – distinction and 1984 – 1st place for String Quartet).

In the concert part of the evening, an outstanding singer Ewa Biegas, a graduate and currently a teacher at the Music Academy in Katowice, together with Eugeniusz Knapik will perform his songs to the words of Krzysztof Ildefons Gałczyński as well as Maurice Ravel's Greek Songs. The famous Silesian cellist Adam Krzeszowiec will perform Knapik's Filo d'Arianna for cello solo, which was recorded on a CD released by Radio Katowice.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme available at: https://www.silesia.art.pl/strona-glowna/koncerty/351_vivat-academia-koncert-i-spotkaniebrz-prof-eugeniuszem-knapikiem

Kraków | „Elementi 7: retro” – academic conference and concerts

"Elementi 7: retro" is three days of intense musical meetings and concerts. Olga Drenda, Andrzej Mądry and Artur Zagajewski will be the special guests of this year's edition, which will take place on 1-3 March 2019 at the Music Academy in Kraków.

The student conference "Elementi", initiated seven years ago, quickly grew into a cyclical event, including not only lectures and discussions, but also concerts, meetings, and composers' workshops. The word "retro" – the theme of this year's edition – provokes to ask questions about the presence of the past in contemporary art, while providing an excuse to take up the problem of nostalgia, widmontology, or spiritology. These issues will be discussed in the papers during the two-day academic conference (1-2 March), featuring lectures given by invited guests: Olga Drenda, Andrzej Mądry and Artur Zagajewski.

An important part of "Elementi 7" are concerts of new music. Gośka Isphording and Erik Bosgraaf (1 March), and Contemporary Ensemble Music Co-operative (2 March) will perform during the first two days. On the last day there will be a concert of students of the composition class of the Music Academy in Kraków (3 March).

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Warsaw | Chamber music for saxophone and piano: After All

A concert at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music on February 27, 2019 at 7.00 p.m. will announce a new album by Andrzej Karałow and Pablo Sánchez-Escariche Gascha entitled After all.

After all is a debut album of musicians who engage in solo, chamber, orchestral and experimental activities on a daily basis. They have been performing in a duet since 2016, playing classical and contemporary music – including works dedicated to the duo, among others, by Australian composers: Kirsten Milenko and Harry Sdraulig. The title piece After All was dedicated to the performers by the composer Żaneta Rydzewska.

The presence of some pieces on the CD with music for saxophone and piano may seem predictable. The performers believe, however, that the combination of the selected works creates a specific exhibition of how the contemporary composer's ideas relate to or confronts the music of a bygone era. After all is a personal perspective on the compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries and their past interpretations: starting from music written at the beginning of the 20th century, transcribed specifically for our needs (Paul Hindemith and Karol Szymanowski), through the already classical, virtuoso Sonata by William Albright, ending with the works of young composers (Żaneta Rydzewska, or Andrzej Karałow).

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Kraków | Stars with Sinfonietta: Patrick Gallois

On February 23, 2019, French flutist and conductor Patrick Gallois will perform with Sinfonietta Cracovia at the Gallery of 19th-century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall at 7:00 p.m..

Patrick Gallois, a student of Jean-Pierre Rampal, has been playing a double role for years, presenting audiences around the world with the full spectrum of his artistic talent.

The concert in Kraków will feature the Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, with the famous Badinerie in the rendition of Gallois. Under his baton we will also listen to the first symphonic works of two unparalleled Viennese classics: Symphony No. 1 in E flat major, written by only eight-year-old Mozart, and Symphony No. 1 in D major by Joseph Haydn. The programme will also include Krzysztof Penderecki's Chaconne in memoria del Giovanni Paolo II and the impressionist Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy in the Gallois' arrangement for flute, harp and string orchestra.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Information on tickets at: www.sinfonietta.pl

Kraków-Wieliczka | 2nd Festival and Piano Competition "Piano e Forte" 2019

The Music School Complex in Wieliczka and the Sfogato Music and Art Society have the honor of inviting you to the 2nd Festival and Piano Competition "Piano e Forte". Applications for the Competition should be submitted by February 15, 2019.

The aim of the "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition is to show the history of piano evolution in the context of the development of the piano repertoire: research on mutual relation and the impact of new achievements in the field of the piano mechanism on the repertoire as well as the influence of innovative compositional techniques for the development of the instrument. The "Piano e Forte" competition seeks to inspire young pianists to deepen their knowledge of the history of the instrument, raise awareness of the performing practices of a diverse repertoire on contemporary and historical pianos, as well as to explore the interpretational trends and piano literature of different eras. The "Piano e Forte" Festival and Competition, whose originator and artistic director is the pianist Marta Polańska, is an innovative project that captures the issue in a holistic way. The organizers of the event are: The Music School Complex in Wieliczka and the Sfogato Society of Music and Art in Kraków. The first edition (2018) took place on the 320th anniversary of the first mention of the invention of the Italian builder Bartolomeo Cristofori, showing the historical route of the piano "From the Italian land to Poland". By presenting the repertoire of works by Polish composers, the first edition celebrated the 100th anniversary of Poland's regaining Independence.

The second edition of the Festival and Competition will take place on March 1-9, 2019 and will celebrate the anniversaries of prominent Polish composers:
Stanisław Moniuszko on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth,
Maria Szymanowska on the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the composer's birth,
Fryderyk Chopin on the 170th death anniversary of the composer
and Grażyna Bacewicz on the occasion of the 110th birth and 50th death anniversary.

The programme of the Festival will include: workshops on the construction of the grand piano and its prototypes, the harpsichord and organs – an instrument on which Fryderyk Chopin and Stanisław Moniuszko also played; lectures on the history of instruments, as well as piano works of the aforementioned Polish composers; the 2nd Piano Competition "Piano e Forte," and the Gala Concert of Young Piano Masters.

The Competition Rules and other information can be found at www.PianoeForte.pl

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Katowice | Moniuszko from the heart: vocalists in the Silesian Library

A special concert celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Stanisław Moniuszko will be held on February 26, 2019 at 5.00 p.m. in the auiditorium hall "Parnassos" of the Silesian Library in Katowice.

The concert of Stanisław Moniuszko's arias and songs in the Silesian Library is one of the first proposals for music lovers prepared by the Institution for the Promotion and Dissemination of Music "Silesia" as part of the "Moniuszko from the heart" cycle in the Year of Moniuszko.

Young vocalists from the Katowice and Kraków Music Academies, winners of the last International Vocal Competition of Sacred Music "Ars et Gloria", will perform fragments of Moniuszko's operas. Laureate of the third prize, Justyna Bujak, will present recitativo and aria Ah! Out child is dying... from Halka, Patryk Wyborski will sing Miecznik's aria Who wants to win the hearts of my girls, and Piotr Kalina will perform Jontek's aria The fir trees sigh on mountain peaks, interpretation of which also won him a distinction at the Jan Kiepura International Vocal Competition in Krynica-Zdrój. Jakub Schmidt, winner of the first prize at the "Ars et Gloria" competition in his age category, will sing the famous Skołuba's bass aria. The programme of the concert will also include other Moniuszko's arias and songs.

Admission to the event is free! Free entrance cards are available at the IPiUM Silesia office (2 Sejmu Śląskiego Square, ground floor, room 20) or can be booked by phone: (32) 219 33 44 / 33.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://www.silesia.art.pl/strona-glowna/koncerty/362_moniuszko-od-serca-wokalisci-w-bibliotece-slaskiej

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