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The Cracow Golden Quintet – 2nd prize winners of the Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów, organised by the National Institute of Music and Dance – will perform on 15 November 2021 at 7.30 p.m. in the NOSPR series "Youth's Stage".

The "Youth's Stage" pulsates with energy and enthusiasm of debutants, for whom the performance at the NOSPR is an important moment on their way to a great career – these are concerts for everyone who prefer musical discoveries and sprouting talents to established names.

The Cracow Golden Quintet's repertoire covers both classical and popular music ranging from the classical era all the way to the contemporary. The group specialise in performing and promoting the musical output of Poland. That particular repertoire consists of pieces by Grażyna Bacewicz, Wojciech Kilar, Michał Spisak, and Tadeusz Szeligowski, among others, and is continually extended, especially to include music which has been forgotten and rarely performed onstage. Another field of Cracow Golden Quintet’s activity is premiering and recording 20th and 21st-century works. Acclaimed both domestically and internationally, the group have earned several awards and has performed at prestigious concert halls all over the world. In 2020, DUX released the ensemble’s first album, featuring works by Polish composers which was nominated for the 'Fryderyk' 2021 phonographic awards in the 'Chamber Music Album of the Year' category.

The programme of the upcoming concert will include Wojciech Kilar's Quintet for wind instruments, Józef Świder's Mini-Quintetto, as well as Jacques Ibert's Trois pièces brèves, Malcolm Arnold's Three Shanties and Júlia Medaglia's Belle epoque en Sud-America.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket Information: https://nospr.org.pl/pl/kalendarz/scena-mlodych-cracow-golden-quintet-2 

The first concert in the series "Generation '51 on their 70th birthday" will be held on 13 November 2021 at 6.00 p.m. at the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Chamber Hall. We will hear the '51 Generation's 40-year acquaintance with the Silesian String Quartet.

Andrzej Krzanowski wrote Salve Regina for choir in 1981, but it was only in 2020, after Grażyna Krzanowska had arranged it for string quartet, that Silesian Quartet played it in the „Silesian misterioso” series, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of St John Paul II’s birth.

Relief for Andrzej is Aleksander Lasoń’s tribute to his friend taken away by premature death. Silesian Quartet first played it in 1995 to celebrate the Chamber Hall of the M. Karłowicz Music School in Katowice being named after Andrzej Krzanowski. A short piece, yet one most moving in its message...

Eugeniusz Knapik’s String Quartet No. 1 of 1980 is today considered a classic of 20th-century music, but in the year of its creation it was a challenge for the musicians to perform and it forced them to get over their habits. Working with the most demanding composer was a true test for them. The form of the piece is twofold, as in Lutosławski’s work, only put together in reverse order. It is dense, dynamic, stormy, to the point of virtuosity, at first. Then, there comes the calm of the song arising from and aiming for the chorale chords. In his author’s commentary, Knapik mentions a reference to the gravity of Beethoven’s masterpieces.

The concert will close with a second performance of Aleksander Lasoń’s Ananda for piano and string quartet commissioned for the 44th Karol Szymanowski’s Music Days in Zakopane.

The first and the last piece of this evening are proof that the ‘51 generation is not an ideology, but wonderful active composers.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket Information: https://nospr.org.pl/pl/kalendarz/kwartet-slaski-tymoteusz-bies-pokolenie-51-na-70-lecie-urodz 

A series of concerts devoted to the Creative Scholarship holders of the City of Krakow will be held between 15 October and 15 December 2021 at the Palace of Arts, the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria (St. Dorothy Chapel) and the Bishop Erazm Ciołek Palace – department of the National Museum in Krakow.

The events will feature outstanding musicians from Krakow, winners of the Creative Scholarship of the City of Krakow: Maria Sławek, Piotr Lato, Maciej Zimka, Wiesław Ochwat, Bożena Boba-Dyga, and Marek Szlezer, who will perform alongside invited guests (Piotr Sałajczyk, Aleksandra Buczyńska, Magdalena Kulig). The programme will include works by renowned Krakow composers, laureates of the Creative Scholarship of the City of Krakow: Wojciech Widłak and Marcel Chyrzyński. In addition to contemporary compositions, the repertoire will include pieces of classical music from various eras (John Downland, Johann Sebastian Bach or Richard Strauss).

The event is organized by the Art Forum Foundation. The co-organizer of the project is the Witold Lutosławski Krakow Conservatory. The project is co-financed by the City of Krakow. Free admission!

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Programme: https://fundacjaartforum.pl/ 

"The World of Master Beksinski” on 13 November 2021 at 6.00 and 8.30 p.m. at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław is a unique proposal for music lovers and admirers of painting. It is an event like no other, promoting one of the finest Polish painters, as well as contemporary music presented in a way that is engaging and thought-provoking.

Zdzisław Beksinski created his paintings while listening to music. Among the composers most often mentioned by him was Alfred Schnittke. Hence the idea to show Beksinski’s paintings in connection with music, which will be a hugely engaging and emotional experience. 

The concert consists of two parts. In the first part we will hear Sine Titulo – a contemporary piece, composed specially for this event by Szymon Sutor. Then the artists will play Alfred Schnittke's Requiem, and the music will be accompanied by a display of images, closely related to the dramaturgy of music. Additionally, in the foyer you will be able to see an exhibition of selected works by Zdzisław Beksiński.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Ticket Information: https://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl 

Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra together with the Centre for Artistic Education is proud to invite you to another concert from the “The young for the younger. Concert of the most talented young artists” series on 13 November 2021 at 7.00 p.m. at the Concert Hall of the Complex of State Music Schools No. 1 in Warsaw („Nowa Miodowa”). The idea behind the concerts is to educate the most talented students of 2nd level music schools by making music together and to provide them with an opportunity to gain stage experience by performing together with Sinfonia Iuventus, a professional symphony orchestra composed of the most talented graduates of music universities.

This time, Marek Wroniszewski will conduct performances by four talented virtuosos in an attractive programme of compositions from different periods for solo French horn, viola, saxophone and clarinet.

The concert will be opened by hornist Jan Dąbrowski (Grażyna Bacewicz Complex of State Music Schools No. 3 (1st and 2nd level). This young musician will present the most impressive piece by Franz Strauss – Concerto in C minor, op. 8. Viola Concerto in G minor is one of the most known pieces of a slightly forgotten British artist Cecil Forsyth. Its 1st part will be performed by Oliwia Stawicka (Chopin University of Music). Jacques Ibert’s neoclassical Concertino da camera for alto saxophone is one of many pieces inspired by the talent of famous virtuoso Sigurd Raschèr. At the concert, the composition will be performed by Kacper Puczko (Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles). Karolina Bober (Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice) will perform Claude Debussy’s Première rhapsodie (1910, orchestral version – 1911).

Free passes to the concert are available! The seats are numbered and the number of seats is limited. Please send your requests by 9 November 2021 with the number of seats (2 seats per 1 request), full names of participants and telephone numbers of all the persons willing to participate in the event.

Piotr Maculewicz

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More about artists: www.sinfoniaiuventus.pl