The Wieniawa Orchestra will perform with the laureates of the 2. Feliks Konopasek Competition!

The final pieces of the 2nd Feliks Konopasek Composition Competition for an Instrumental Work for Wind Orchestra will be performed by the Wieniawa Orchestra. Scores can be submitted by September 1.

The Feliks Konopasek Composition Competition for an Instrumental Work for Wind Orchestra is a new initiative of the National Institute of Music and Dance. It is part of the endeavors supporting and popularizing the activities of Polish wind bands within the framework of the "Wind Band Laboratory" (Pracownia Orkiestr Dętych), established in 2025. As part of the pilot "Wind Band Laboratory" program in 2025,  the Institute partnered in a number of events, including workshops with the National Wind Orchestra in Lubin and the Lesser Poland Workshops for Bandmasters and Drum Majors of Wind Orchestras in Nowy Sącz. The Feliks Konopasek Composition Competition was also established in 2025. Its goal is to create artistically valuable works that can permanently be included in the repertoire of Polish wind ensembles, both professional and amateur. An equally important objective of the competition is to promote music intended for wind orchestras and to encourage composers to write original pieces for this instrumentation. The competition's patron is Feliks Konopasek (1860-1930) – Polish composer, conductor, educator, and activist, distinguished in many fields, including the amateur music movement.

A total of 18 scores were submitted to the first edition of the competition. The first prize went to the piece Baltic Rhapsody by Wojciech Chałupka. The winning composition and other awarded works, llamas run and turtles dance by Nikodem Kluczyński and Sviatovid by Dominik Radoń, were premiered on November 29, 2025, in the Concert Hall of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music (UMFC) by the Concert Band of the Representative Artistic Ensemble of the Polish Armed Forces conducted by Lt. Col. Marcin Ślązak and the winner of Warsaw Band Conducting 2025.

The current edition has two stages. Results of the first round of the competition, namely the jury's evaluation of the submitted scores, will by published by September 15, 2026. The second, final round of the competition, during which the laureates will be selected, will be held as part of a concert of the "Wieniawa Plays the Classics" series. The concert will take place on November 27, 2026, in the Concert Hall of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, a co-organizer of the event. The concert program will feature the final compositions of the competition, as well as original works and arrangements for concert band, including Polish music. During the concert the winning compositions will be announced and the awards will be presented.

The Wieniawa Orchestra – an ensemble from Raciborowice, well-known both in Poland and abroad – is one of the first concert bands in our country. The orchestra, founded in 1994, has won numerous awards and distinctions at competitions and festivals, and regularly performs at home and abroad. Currently, the ensemble consists of over 60 young performers who share a great passion for creating music at the highest professional level. The young instrumentalists take on new challenges and break existing patterns and stereotypes attributed to wind bands in Poland. The artistic director of the Wieniawa Orchestra, Jarosław Ignaszak, is one of the leading bandmasters, educators, and animators of the wind band movement in Poland. He is also a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Kraków and the Wind Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Kraków, the creator of the "Mała Wieniawa" artistic education program, and a member of the World Association for Symphonic Wind Bands and Ensembles WASBE. The orchestra's repertoire is very broad and encompasses classical, film, and popular music (including performances with Zbigniew Wodecki, Alicja Majewska, Włodzimierz Korcz, Krystyna Prońko, Maria Sadowska, Andrzej Sikorowski, Janusz Radek, Kayah, Kamil Bednarek, and Mateusz Ziółko). The ensemble also commissions works from contemporary composers, including Grzegorz Duchnowski and Piotr Flis. The orchestra is managed by the "Wieniawa" Association of Cultural Initiatives, known for its dynamic activity and innovative approach to the amateur music movement.

The Competition Rules and Regulations are available at: https://nimit.pl/aktualnosci/ii-konkurs-kompozytorski-im-feliksa-konopaska-na-utwor-instrumentalny-dla-orkiestry-detej/