news

The 3rd "Sieradz Organ Autumn" Music Festival includes five Sunday concerts on 3–31 October 2021, featuring no less than 60 excellent musicians who will present organ, chamber and sacred music.

The festival, initiated in 2017 by Błażej Musiałczyk, organist and president of the Art Development Centre Foundation, will take place in two churches in Sieradz: the All Saints Church (Basilica), with the historic 25-voice Adolf Homan organ from 1914, and in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, with the 50-voice organ designed by Józef Cynar.

The Festival will present early Polish music (eg. Mikołaj Gomółka's Psalms), works by young Polish composers from the Midnight Stories album awarded with "Fryderyk", as well as works by Western European artists. The final concert, dedicated to the memory of all those who lost the unequal fight against the pandemic, will feature Maurice Duruflé's Requiem for choir and organ.

Among the performers will be, among others, Łukasz Długosz – recognized by critics as one of the best Polish flautists, organist Roman Perucki, trumpet player Paweł Hulisz, Music Everywhere Choir and Art'n'Voices Vocal Ensemble – winner of the "Fryderyk" 2021 award in the "Album of the Year – Contemporary Music" category.

Admission is free! All concerts start at 7.00 p.m. and are held in the sanitary regime.

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund under the "Accessible Culture" programme.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Festival Website: https://www.facebook.com/Sieradzkajesienorganowa/ 

The 23rd concert in the "Generations" series, organised by the Polish Composers' Union, Polish Radio Channel 2 and ZAiKS Authors' Association, will be held on 3 October 2021 at 6 p.m. at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio.

The Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw under the baton of Rafał Janiak and the soloists – flautist Łukasz Długosz and accordionist Iwo Jedynecki – will perform works by renowned Polish composers: Concertino for flute and chamber orchestra (1962) by Witold Szalonek, Concerto for accordion and chamber orchestra (1987) by Sławomir Kaczorowski, In the Shade of an Unshed Tear for orchestra (2016) by Agata Zubel, as well as A Winged Creature for chamber orchestra (1994) by the Czech composer Miroslav Pudlák.

In addition, the concert will premiere two parts of Ten Scenes from Tobaro (2020) – the latest work by the young talented composer Krzysztof Rau, a doctoral student of Agata Zubel-Moc and Marcin Rupociński at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław. Ten Scenes from Tobaro is a piece inspired by the form of musical reportage created by Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil and the fantastic world of Warhammer Fantasy. The action of the work takes place in the city of Tobaro (which is part of the Warhammer world), at the beginning of the so-called The End of Times (a fantastic apocalypse that brought the destruction of all beings on the planet) and depicts the last moments of the city's population just before its utter destruction.

The concert was co-financed by the "Music" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance. Admission is free! It is required to cover the nose and mouth and disinfect the hands before entering the Concert Studio.

More information: https://www.zkp.org.pl/index.php/pl/nasze-dzialania/festiwale-koncerty/generacje 

"Great Composers – Great Anniversaries" is a Toruń Symphony Orchestra's project to commemorate artists who celebrate important anniversaries in 2021. The concert on 2 October at 6 p.m. in the CKK Jordanki Rehearsal Room will be devoted to Gustav Mahler.

The project celebrates the following anniversaries: the 280th anniversary of the death of A. Vivaldi, the 100th anniversary of the death of C. Saint-Saëns, the 50th anniversary of the death of I. Stravinsky, the 230th anniversary of the death of W.A. Mozart, the 100th anniversary of the death of W. Żeleński, the 120th anniversary of the death of G. Verdi, and the 110th anniversary of the death of G. Mahler.

The song is the oldest musical genre next to the dance. It results from the combination of poetic word and music and it reflects the history of music from primitive cultures to the 21st century. Bohdan Pociej wrote: "If there is any indestructible element of musicality in a person, then song is its seed." The upcoming concert will feature not only songs by Gustav Mahler, but also by outstanding Romantic composers: Johannes Brahms and Stanisław Moniuszko, performed by Agata Schmidt (mezzo-soprano) and Bartłomiej Wezner.

Co-financed under the "Music" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://tos.art.pl/en/wydarzenia/circle-songs

The Chopin Competition is the most important musical event in Poland and one of the most important musical events in the world. The 18th edition will be held on 2-23 October 2021.

Apart from its huge role in popularising Chopin's music, it discovers the greatest pianistic talents, providing young musicians with the most effective start in their international career. Among the 87 pianists qualified to the 18th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition are 22 Chinese, 16 Polish, 14 Japanese, 7 South Korean, 6 Italian piano players as well as pianists from Armenia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Latvia, Russia, Spain, Thailand, USA, United Kingdom and Vietnam. The Jury of the 18th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition will include eminent artists, distinguished experts and excellent educators. They will select those who will contribute to the shape of the musical world over the coming decades.

The official inauguration of the Chopin Competition is slated for 2 October and will take place at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. The auditions will commence on 3 and end on 20 October. The crowning of the event will be the Grand Awards Gala with a concert by the winners, which will take place on 21 October at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera. The winner of the competition will receive the Gold Medal and the First Prize of €40,000.

With the enthusiasts of Fryderyk Chopin and enthusiasts of artistic competitions in mind, Chopin Institute prepared multimedia apps: mobile for iOS and Andorid (both can be downloaded free of charge from www.chopin2020.pl) and SmartTV app for Samsung Tvs.

Official website: https://chopin2020.pl/pl 

Can you describe this phenomenon in a few sentences?

Sounds accompany us throughout our lives. Apparently, the last sense that declines is hearing. That is why you have to be very careful what you say in the presence of a person who we think is unconscious and does not register anything from the environment...

But what if there is only total silence afterwards? If there is no described and promised "harmony of the spheres"? What if the ideas about perfect sounds experienced here on earth are only an illusion? The shocking variety of sounds is the material of broadly understood creativity. Not only artistic creativity, but also the spontaneous, often the most primitive one.

The beauty of sound is a category so arbitrary, so dependent on the moment, need, idea and goal! A soothing melody of a mother's voice for a child, but also, often irritating, a baby's cry; sounds of animals, for the hungry even the appetizing "cooking" of the dish in a pot or the sizzling of bacon in the pan; nightly, ominous humming of birds, but also the singing of the nightingale; murmur of rain in a secluded house, but also the awe-inspiring sound of a thunderstorm; amazing drum sounds in Spanish Holy Week rites and war drums; whisper, all shades of scream. And finally, perfect beauty – wonderful compositions in which we immerse ourselves completely, absorbing the masterpieces of all musical eras.

I am a professional musician. Sounds are the fabric of my being, a means of confessing hope, faith and love. I thank the Creator for giving me a chance to live in the world of art that I love and which has responded to my feelings.

I will always remember and repeat the words of two Masters – Witold Lutosławski, to "seek harmony in life at all costs in all activities", and Wojciech Kilar: "music cannot replace religion". Lutosławski taught me to be "at the service" of music and people, and Kilar turned my consciousness to the higher spheres, against all temptations. They both warned that Music is a possessive Lady ...

Jadwiga Rappé