official patronage

2016 edition of the Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition came to an end on April 17, 2016. The 1st prize was awarded to pianist Han-Wen Yu (Taiwan) and cellist Mon-Pou Lee (Spain/Taiwan) who presented a brilliant interpretation of Claude Debussy’s Sonata for cello and piano at the event’s final concert.

Han-Wen Yu and Mon-Pou Lee met in Berlin, where they both currently live. 30-year-old Han-Wen Yu studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig, while a 22-year-old cellist Mon-Pou Lee studies at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Together they have toured in Germany, Czech Republic and Italy, and plan to give concerts in Spain, the USA and Taiwan, as well as at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie and Gasteig Munich. In 2015, the duo won the Concorso Internazionale di Musica "Marco Fiorindo" in Italy. In Łódź, the artists received the cash prize (8.000 PLN each) and an invitation to perform at the Łódź Philharmonic.

This year’s edition of the Competition hosted over 100 chamber music ensembles (ie. over 250 artists) from all over the world, who performed a variety of chamber works, ranging from Haydn and Beethoven to Poulenc, Shostakovich and Penderecki. The Jury, comprising 11 members, decided to award the following prizes:

2nd prize

quintet: Krzysztof Cegliński (piano), Sławomira Wilga (violin), Maria Sosnowska (violin), Magdalena Agatowicz (viola) and Anna Cierpisz (cello)

3rd prize

duo: Aleksander Krzyżanowski (piano) and Iwo Jedynecki (accordion);

ex-aequo: Goun Kim from South Korea (piano) and Dominik Manz from Germany (cello)

distinctions

trio: Michał Kluska (piano), Weronika Pucka (violin) and Anna Cierpisz (cello);

duo: Kristina Raczyńska (piano) and Łukasz Hajduczenia (baritone);

duo: Ryszard Alzin (piano) and Michał Janicki (baritone) - award for the best performance of work by Polish composer

The laureates received also extra-curricular awards – concerts at the Philharmonic in Krakow, Opole, Łomża and Academy of Music in Łódź.

The Competition was held at the Grażyna and Kiejstut Academy of Music in Łódź under the honorary patronage of Prof. Piotr Gliński (Minister of Culture and National Heritage), Prof. Zbigniew Rau (Governor of the Łódź Voivodeship), Witold Stępień (Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship) and Hanna Zdanowska (Mayor of the City of Łódź).

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

2nd National Scientific Conference "Contemporary Challenges in Music Education" will be held on April 18-19, 2016 at the Department of Instrumental and Educational Studies of the Fryderyk Chopin University in Białystok.

The aim of the conference is to set the diagnosis of music education (in relation to the fact that the world has been undergoing dynamic changes) and to identify ways of development of music education in the context of conscious and creative exploration of musical heritage. The modern world generates previously unknown problems which challenge the education. Under these conditions, a view on a teacher, conductor, and animator becomes crucial for the proces of educating future generations of young artists.

The conference will cover several topics, such as: music education as the future aesthetic education of children and youth, problems in educating professional music staff, reforms in music education, contemporary research on music education, musical preferences and interests of children and young people and the role of extracurricular music activities in the development of children and youth.

The organizers invited the representatives of the Department of Art and Culture Education (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage) to participate in the event.

See: programme

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

2016 edition of the Kiejstut Bacewicz International Chamber Music Competition will have its opening on April 10, 2016 at the Academy of Music in Łódź.

55 years have passed since the Chamber Music Competition was first organized in Łódź in 1961. Its initiator, Prof. Kiejstut Bacewicz, rector of the Academy and patron of the Competition, was a great artist and a promoter of chamber music. This year’s edition will host over 100 chamber music ensembles (ie. over 250 artists) from all over the world, who will perform a variety of chamber works, ranging from Haydn and Beethoven to Poulenc, Shostakovich and Penderecki.

The 1st stage of the Competition involves 3 categories (A: voice duo with piano; B: instrumental duo with piano; C: piano trio, piano quartet, piano quintet). The participants will be evaluated by the international jury: Cezary Sanecki - piano (Poland, chairman), Łukasz Błaszczyk - violin (Poland), Mario Caroli - flute (Italy), Nicholas Cox - clarinet (Great Britain), Witold Holtz - piano (Poland), Katarzyna Jankowska-Borzykowska - piano (Poland), Kimihiko Kitajima - piano (Japan), Katalin Kokas - violin (Hungary), Urszula Kryger - voice (Poland), Zdzisław Łapiński - cello (Poland), Jadwiga Rappé - voice (Poland).

The opening concert, performed by mezzosoprano Urszula Kryger, pianists Katarzyna Jankowska-Borzykowska and Marcin Sikorski, violinist Łukasz Błaszczyk and cellist Rafał Kwiatkowski, will be held on April 10, 2016 at 6.00 pm at the Academy of Music in Łódź (2a Żubardzka St).

Admission free.

Honorary patronage: Prof. Piotr Gliński (Minister of Culture and National Heritage), Prof. Zbigniew Rau (Governor of the Łódź Voivodeship), Witold Stępień (Marshal of the Łódź Voivodeship) and Hanna Zdanowska (Mayor of the City of Łódź).

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: www.amuz.lodz.pl

9th Gdańsk Music Festival will be held between April 8 and 15, 2016. The major theme of the 2016 edition will be "Polish Concert".

This year, the festival’s artist-in-residence will be legendary Maxim Vengerov, who will give violin masterclass and present concerts by Henryk Wieniawski and Karol Szymanowski at the final gala. The programme includes also performances by Nelson Goerner with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Wojciech Rajski, pianist Georgijs Osokins (finalist of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition), cellist Maciej Kułakowski (winner of the 10th Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition) with AMADEUS Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra under Agnieszka Duczmal, Sinfonietta Pomerania under Tadeusz Dixa, Polish Chamber Choir under Jan Łukaszewski, Cappella Gedanensis (which celebrates its 35th anniversary) led by English conductor and countertenor Paul Esswood, as well as several chamber concerts.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: www.gdanskifestiwal.pl

3rd edition of the Krakow Cello Spring will be held on April 7-10, 2016 at the Academy of Music in Krakow. Admission to all events is free.

First of 4 concerts is dedicated to Prof. Witold Herman and  will feature compositions by David Popper, Max Bruch, Krzysztof Penderecki, Johann Sebastian Bach, and others, presented by the graduates of the Academy of Music in Krakow, who studied with Prof. Herman in the years 1975-2005. Next concerts involve ballads by Leonard Cohen performed by Michał Łanuszka and the cello octet, performance entitled Only Cello! and works by Witold Lutosławski, Wojciech Widłak, Krzysztof Penderecki, Aleksander Tansman and Franz Schubert interpreted by Stuttgart-based cellist Peter Buck and his students.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

See: programme

Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra under the baton of Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski will perform compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms on April 9, 2016 at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw.

The overture to the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus (Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus) by Ludwig van Beethoven will open the first part of the concert. The composer wrote the music for the heroic-allegorical ballet in 1800-01 and it is the overture that remained in the concert repertoire until today. Next, the orchestra will perform Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, which was called the "10th Symphony of Beethoven" by the German conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow. Last work to be presented during the evening will be Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, written in the years 1795-1800.

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven - Ouverture to the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, Op.43

Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

Tickets available at www.bilety24.pl, www.sklep.polskieradio.pl and one hour before the concert at the box office of the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Young choir singers from Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia and Russia will perform concerts at the 1st International Choir Festival for Children and Young People "Mundus Cantat", which will be held on April 7-9, 2016 at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk.

The organizers, the Mundus Cantat Foundation, having gained over 10 years of experience, decided to organize another event dedicated to young and enthusiastic choristers who come to Sopot every year. The singers will be auditioned by the jury – Teresa Pabiańczyk, PhD, Michał Kozorys, PhD (Festival’s artistic director) and Prof. Marcin Tomczak.

Admission free.

More information: www.munduscantat.pl

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

Spektakl Multimedialne Coś Bogusława Schaeffera zostanie zaprezentowany 3 i 4 kwietnia 2016 roku w kultowym Théâtre de la Huchette w Paryżu. Premierowym pokazom we Francji towarzyszyć będzie wystawa grafik i partytur kompozytora, spotkanie z publicznością oraz czytania dramatu Schaeffera w języku francuskim.

Dyrektorzy teatru związanego z osobą Eugène’a Ionesco, Jean-Noël Hazemann oraz Franck Desmed, goszcząc w Warszawie na 7. edycji festiwalu „Era Schaeffera” w 2015 roku, zaprosili twórców do zaprezentowania spektaklu w Paryżu. Jedyna sztuka, w której Bogusław Schaeffer występował osobiście, powstała w 2007 roku dla aktora Marka Frąckowiaka. Spektakl był grany m.in. na festiwalu Fringe w Edynburgu, w Pradze, Bratysławie, Budapeszcie, Wiedniu oraz w kilkudziesięciu miastach w Polsce. Multimedialne Coś to brawurowy wykład na temat kondycji sztuki i artysty, rozpisany na trzech aktorów i akompaniatora. Obok Marka Frąckowiaka wystąpią Waldemar Obłoza oraz Agnieszka Grzybowska / Agnieszka Wielgosz.  Ze względu na stan zdrowia, w paryskiej odsłonie Bogusława Schaeffera zastąpi przy instrumencie Michał Urbaniak. Sam Mistrz przez cały spektakl obecny będzie w prezentowanych nad sceną multimediach.

Dwóch mężczyzn– wyglądają jak gentelmani z obrazów Magritte'a, zachowują się jak krzykliwe błazny, pretendujące do głównej roli bez znajomości tekstu i reguł. I kobieta – agresywna w swoich tezach, prowokująca, krzykliwa. W muzycznym tle Michał Urbaniak. Na tle jego błądzącej kantylenty aktorzy próbują przeprowadzić wykład o sztuce, który ostatecznie grzęźnie w pętli, obraca się w niekończącym się loopie, zjada własny ogon i demaskuje pustkę wywodu, smutną nieobecność treści, osamotnioną formę. Feeria dowcipu i szaleństwa niczym z Felliniego. Cyrk obłędu, za którym cicho ukrywa się odwieczne pytanie: kim jest Artysta?

Producentem spektaklu jest Fundacja Przyjaciół Sztuki „Aurea Porta”, której zasadniczym celem jest wspieranie kultury polskiej oraz promocja inicjatyw artystycznych. Znaczna część działań fundacji koncentruje się na promocji twórczości muzycznej, dramaturgicznej i graficznej Bogusława Schaeffera.

Patronat medialny nad wydarzeniem objęło Polskie Centrum Informacji Muzycznej.

Another concert of the "Music +" cycle will be held on March 30, 2016 at 7.00 pm in the Youth Culture Centre in Krakow (“House of the Scouts”, 18 Reymonta St).

The programme, which includes works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Karol Szymanowski, Claude Debussy, Leonard Bernstein, Edvard Grieg and Samuel Barber, will be interpreted by students of the Academy of Music in Krakow, soprano Alicja Ciesielczuk and pianist Joachim Kołpanowicz.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.