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.