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Pomeranian Music Society's "Composer on the web" series

The Pomeranian Music Society invites you to a series of online meetings and music premieres "Kompozytor w sieci" ["Composer on the Web"] dedicated to Toruń composers, which will be held every Friday at 6.00 p.m.

Each episode will be devoted to one composer who will talk about his or her work, inspirations and extra-musical interests. We will learn what the composer's everyday life looks like under normal conditions and during the pandemic, what circumstances induce creativity, and whether a great work can be created during a lockdown. Each meeting will be accompanied by music. We will listen to works already performed at concerts as well as written especially for the series.

The project will feature well-known graduates of the Karol Szymanowski Music School Complex in Toruń: Magdalena Cynk, Jędrzej Rochecki, Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska, Mateusz Ryczek, Rafał Kłoczko, Maciej Jabłoński, Michał Ossowski, Prasqual, Dobromiła Jaskot, Zuzanna Koziej, Dariusz Kubicki and Adam Falenta.

Live broadcasts will be held on Fridays at 6.00 p.m. on the Pomeranian Music Society Facebook Page; the recordings will be later availbale on its Youtube channel.

"Sinfonietkowe e-przedszkole" – online music classes with Ms Sinfonietka

"Sinfonietkowe e-przedszkole" ("Sinfonietka e-nursery school)" is another initiative of the Sinfonietta Cracovia Orchestra addressed to young music lovers as part of the free artistic and educational offer "Smash the virus with music!".

"Sinfonietkowe e-przedszkole" are online music classes that refer to the popular series of concerts for children "Sinfonietka". Children who are not attending nursery shools for the time being will have a chance to spend interesting time with Ms Sinfonietka. The classes will be conducted by Danuta Augustyn, beloved by young music lovers – a valued violinist of Sinfonietta Cracovia, a member of the DAFO quartet and an academic teacher. Children will learn songs, have fun and play homemade instruments. Sinfonietka Karaoke Songs will also provide a lot of laughter, music and fun. Let's show that children at home are not bored!

Classes will be held individually or in small groups via an instant messenger. Caregivers will be informed by e-mail about their dates and details before each class. Applications should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: www.sinfonietta.pl/e-przedszkole/

PGE Energia Ciepła invites the youngest to participate in music classes

"Listen to the city's energy" – PGE Energia Ciepła, a company from the PGE Capital Group invites children to participate in a musical project. Its co-creators are five music institutions located in cities in which the company conducts its activity: National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk and Toruń Symphony Orchestra.

Every day for two weeks, starting from 18 May 2020, the artists of these five music institutions will tell stories about their city with local symbols, legends and tales, interspersed with music and songs. The programme proposed by the National Forum of Music includes works by Jerzy Adam Nowak – composer, guitarist, teacher and artistic director of the NFM World Music Orchestra.

The project "Listen to the city's energy" was created to enrich home music education offer during quarantine and to arouse children's curiosity. In this way, PGE Energia Ciepła together with music institutions also encourages to visit Polish cities as soon as the tourist season begins.

New episodes of the "Listen to the City's Energy" project will be posted every day at www.pgeenergiaciepla.pl, www.pl-pl.facebook.com/gkpge and on the websites of the institutions under the patronage of the PGE Energia Ciepła and PGE Capital Group.

"For our freedom and yours" – online premiere of the 5th Sinfonietta Festival concert

Sinfonietta Cracovia and the National Museum in Kraków invite you for the online premiere of the concert entitled "For our freedom and yours." The broadcast will take place on 22 May 2020 at 8.00 p.m. as part of the "Ty-Dzień Muzeum w NMK" project.

The concert "For our freedom and yours" took place in the Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall of the National Museum in Kraków as part of the 5th Sinfonietta Festival. The Sinfonietta Cracovia Orchestra of the Capital City of Kraków under the baton of Jurek Dybał presented a programme in the spirit of American concept of freedom and friendship between the nations. The soloist of the concert was world-famous tenor Stanley Jackson, who performed spirituals, which are an important element of African American heritage, and popular songs from the West Side Story musical by Leonard Bernstein. That evening he sang for the first time in Polish! He presented his own interpretation of 6 Songs to words by Adam Mickiewicz, Op. 18 by Ignacy Jan Paderewski.

The concert also premiered Jubilee Sinfonietta: Akira by Tomasz Citak ‒ the winning composition of the 5th International Composition Competition "Sinfonietta per Sinfonietta" under the honorary patronage of Professor Krzysztof Penderecki.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Link to the online broadcast: https://mnk.pl/aktualnosci/tydzienmuzeum

In Krzysztof Penderecki's Garden

The interactive garden inspired by Krzysztof Penderecki's work is a new project run by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in virtual space. Penderecki’s Garden will premiere on the anniversary of the Maestro’s birth on 23 November 2020. A preview of the project, financed as part of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017-2022, is available from 20 May 2020 on the website www.pendereckisgarden.pl.

Penderecki’s Garden is an interactive, continually updated digital project inspired by the life and extraordinary legacy of one of the world’s most outstanding contemporary composers, Krzysztof Penderecki. Through it, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute wishes to pay tribute to the Professor’s memory. Gardening – one of Penderecki’s greatest passions – has been chosen as the leitmotif of this undertaking. By filling the garden with new music and other works inspired by the Polish composer’s oeuvre, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute is highlighting his importance for world culture and allowing internet users all over the globe to discover the legacy of Krzysztof Penderecki, his influence on artists in Poland and around the world, as well the the figure of a man who had a myriad different passions.

The project is created by Polish musicians, including Skalpel, Piotr Orzechowski "Pianohooligan", Paweł Romańczuk, Hania Rani, and Robert Piotrowicz.

Penderecki's Garden is currently promoted through the music memory game (www.MemoryPenderecki.pl). The teaser is available at www.PendereckisGarden.pl

More information at: https://www.gov.pl/web/kultura/w-ogrodzie-krzysztofa-pendereckiego

Adam Mrygoń's Funeral

The funaral of Adam Mrygoń, musicologist, conductor, librarian, a long-time employee of the University Library in Warsaw, will be held on 27 May 2020 in Warsaw. The funeral mass will be celebrated at the All Saints' Church at 1 p.m. and the burial will begin at 2.30 p.m. at the Northern Municipal Cemetery.

Adam Mrygoń died on 10 April 2020, at the age of 84. From 1966 he was an ordinary member of the Polish Composers' Union. He studied musicology at the University of Poznań and the University of Warsaw as well as conducting at the State High School of Music in Warsaw. In 1968-1969 he studied in Vienna as a scholarship holder of the Bundesministerium für Unterricht in Österreich. In 1983 defended his doctoral thesis on Stanisław Wiechowicz.

He was a choir assistant at the State High School of Music in Warsaw and a choir conductor and music consultant of the "Lutnia" Singing Society in Warsaw. He lectured at the Institute of Church Musicology of the Catholic University of Lublin and at the Department of Church Musicology of the Academy of Catholic Theology. In the years 1956-2000 he worked in the Department of Music Collections of the University of Warsaw Library as a librarian (1956-1962), senior librarian (1962-1968), custodian (1968-1984), senior custodian (1984-1987), qualified custodian (1988- 1991), and senior certified curator (1992-2000). In 1971-2000 he was the head of the Music Collections Department. He was a member of the Polish Librarians' Association, and also a member of its board in 1970-1976.

For his research achievements, he was honored twice with the Individual Rector's Award of the University of Warsaw, 1st degree (1982, 1983). He was also awarded the "Ecclesiae populoque servitium praestanti" (1997) for his achievements in choral religious music performance.

Adam Mrygoń was a model of professional integrity, a man of great honesty and goodness. He will forever remain in the grateful memory of the University of Warsaw Library employees and readers who met him during forty-four years of his work in this Library.

Children's Day with Professor Wiolinek

On Children's Day, the Kraków Opera invites the youngest music lovers to meet Professor Wiolinek in the musical and educational project. On 1 June 2020, in the social media of the Kraków Opera, children will be able to sing with Dragon Operoku, see the premiere episode of Wiolinek TV, and in the evening – for a bedtime story – watch the performance Professor Wiolinek and a playing whale.

Professor Wiolinek, a character brought to life by Paweł Wójtowicz, concertmaster of the Kraków Opera Orchestra, composer, director and screenwriter, for many young viewers was the first guide in the world of music. His music series was the first one staged at the Kraków Opera in 2014. The educational performances activated children's imagination and taught what music is. Remembering the great interest that accompanied the series, Paweł Wójtowicz decided to bring back stories, songs, characters, and create new elements, among others Wiolinek TV. During the upcoming episodes children will learn songs, they will meet a new dragon character Operokus, and soon they will be able to participate in interesting competitions and games.

JOIN: Facebook Event

PLN 20 mln for artists' scholarships! Results of the second part of the "Culture online" programme

The Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prof. Piotr Gliński announced the results of the scholarship part of the "Culture online" programme. Three-month scholarships – each in the amount of PLN 9,000 – will be awarded to 2,223 artists and creators, that is to over half of the applicants.

Scholarships were awarded in 9 categories: music, visual arts, animation and cultural education, literature, film, theatre, folk art, dance, cultural management and staff development support. In total, the minister allocated PLN 20 million for this part of the "Culture online" programme.

Due to a huge number of applicants (4,370 formally accepted applications), it was decided to award more three-month scholarships instead of six-month ones, thus increasing the number of individuals who receive support.

The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage is also planning to launch a special programme to compensate for cultural losses. Currently, the budget is PLN 50 million.

The list of scholarship holders is available on the website: https://bit.ly/2Ty4Qr0

Aleksander Dębicz – Cinematic piano

On 31 May 2020 at 7:00 p.m. the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin invites you to the online premiere of the concert "Aleksander Dębicz – Cinematic piano" on YouTube and Facebook.

Aleksander Dębicz – one of the most talented Polish pianists of the young generation –performs both classical and jazz repertoire. He is also a composer, author of music for radio plays and theater performances. Film music and improvisation occupy an important place in his work, as evidenced by, among others, the first prize in the Transatlantyk Instant Composition Contest (2013). In 2015, Aleksander Dębicz's cycle of 12 compositions inspired by films was released by Warner Classics on his debut album Cinematic Piano. Each work has a different mood, referring to different film genres and combiining elements of classical music, light music and jazz.

The concert took place at the Szczecin Philharmonic as part of the "Film-Harmony" series presenting film music or music inspired by films.