The winners of the 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music 2021 will perform on 18 September at 7 p.m. at the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic in Rzeszów and on 20 September at 7 p.m. at the Warsaw Philharmonic. The 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music, carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance, is a member of the Alink-Argerich Foundation’s piano competitions network. The Competition is financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, under the honorary auspices of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda.

Carter Johnson, a young and talented Canadian pianist has won the 2nd Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in the piano category and there has been no match for the Książek Piano Duo (Agnieszka Zahaczewska-Książek and Krzysztof Książek) in the chamber ensemble category. The second prize in the piano category has been granted to Ivan Shemchuk (Ukraine), who was also amongst the laureates of the 1st Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music back in 2019. The second prize in the chamber ensemble category has been won by Kwintofonia (Poland), a wind quintet from Warsaw. The third prizes have been respectively awarded to Michał Karol Szymanowski (Poland), in a pianist category and a duo of violinist Aleksandra Kuls and pianist Marcin Koziak (Poland) in a chamber ensembles category. Honourable mentions have been garnered to three pianists: Ruslan Kazakov (Russia), Adam Mikołaj Goździewski (Poland) and Krzysztof Kozłowski (Poland), as well as three chamber ensembles: Popko / Thieu-Quang (Poland), the Dobrowolski / Słapiński Duo (Poland) and Trio Legend (Poland).

There have also been special prizes for the best interpretations of compositions by specific composers. They have been won by Carter Johnson (performing a composition by Stanisław Moniuszko), Jakub Cetnarowski (Poland, for his interpretation of Władysław Żeleński) and Ivan Shemchuk (for his rendition of a work by Henryk Pachulski). The Popko / Thieu-Quang duo has also received a special prize for the best performance of a composition written after 1945 – 500 euros – sponsored by the Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

The Jury has awarded no fewer than 38 additional prizes, most of them in the form of special concerts to be performed at prestigious philharmonic halls and at festivals in Poland and abroad.

The Award Ceremony and Prize Winners Concert will be held on 18 September at 7 p.m. The prize winners of the Competition will perform alongside the Orchestra of the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic in Rzeszów directed by Massimiliano Caldi and Tomasz Chmiel. The Prize Winners Concert will be repeated on 20 September at 7 p.m. at the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Competition website: https://www.konkursmuzykipolskiej.pl/ 

Tickets: http://filharmonia.pl/; http://www.filharmonia.rzeszow.pl/