At the end of the summer, Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra prepared a concert inspired by American cities. The event entitled "City Sketches" will take place on 6 September 2019 at 7:30 p.m. in the concert hall  at 272 Grochowska Street. The programme includes music by Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland as well as Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Henryk Wars. The orchestra will be led by Maestro Mariusz Smolij and the soloist of the concert will be a talented and charismatic pianist Piotr Orzechowski "Pianohooligan". 

Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Mariusz Smolij will begin the concert with Three dances episodes by Leonard Bernstein from the musical On The Town and Quiet City by Aaron Copland. After the works about American cities, the audience will listen to the Concerto for harpsichord (or piano) and string orchestra by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. The work based on a constantly repeated melodic and rhythmic structure keeps listeners and musicians in suspense, allowing harmony to influence its character. Piotr Orzechowski "Pianohooligan" will perform the solo part on the Rhodes piano – an electric instrument with a characteristic timbre.

Next, the orchestra will present City Sketches by Henry Wars. The cycle consists of three parts: High-Rise, Downtown Blues and Freeway Scherzo. The composer wrote them during his stay in America, hence the references to the blues genre originating in the United States. What does America sound like to a Polish composer? The answer will come with this work. Finally, we will listen to Henryk Wars's Piano Concerto. This unusual one-part concerto with lyrical themes and orchestration evokes associations with film music. After all, Henryk Wars worked primarily for the cinema. The composer conquered Hollywood with his music, and his songs were sung by the greatest stars: Bing Crosby, Brenda Lee and Doris Day.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information available at: www.sinfoniavarsovia.org