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Wrocław | Premiere of Paweł Mykietyn's "Violin Concerto"

The premiere of Concerto for violin and symphony orchestra by Paweł Mykietyn will take place at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław on February 22, 2019. The work was written for and dedicated to Marcin Markowicz. The soloist will be accompanied by the orchestra of the National Forum of Music conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk.

"Today, writing a piece for symphony orchestra can be considered a sign of eccentricity." – said Paweł Mykietyn during a conversation about his latest work. Mykietyn is certainly one of the most characteristic composers of Polish music, as indicated by successive premieres of his works as well as a number of awards and prestigious distinctions he received: first place at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris (1995), "Polityka's" Passport (2000), and the Order of Polonia Restituta Fifth Class, "Knight's Cross" (2011). From the very beginning, the composer was keenly interested in creating music, and the first composing tips he received, among others, from Andrzej Kosendiak. Mykietyn developed his composer's workshop at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw (today the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music) in the class of Włodzimierz Kotoński. Already at that time he made his debut during the "Warsaw Autumn" festival with La Strada.

In addition to the latest Mykietyn's composition, the cfoncert will also feature famous works from the last century: Quattro versioni originali della Ritirata Notturna di Madrid di L. Boccherini by Luciano Berio, Divertimento by Leonard Bernstein, and La valse by Maurice Ravel.

More information at: http://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl/component/nfmcalendar/event/6544

Wrocław | Kaleidoscope

On 21 February 2019, NFM Ensemble invites you to a meeting with Polish chamber music. An unusual kaleidoscope of sounds and musical styles awaits the listeners. The programme of the evening consists of works by five native composers representing different generations. Performed by the chamber musicians of the National Forum of Music, both compositions by famous composers of the 20th and 21st centuries will be performed, as well as a work by Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński – the master of Polish chamber music of the Romantic period.

Full of extraordinary energy, the Kaleidoscope for M.C.E. by Paweł Szymański was created in 1989 when the composer was 35. The work, according to its title, is based on the continuous processing of the motive that begins it and presents various possibilities of the cello technique. Witold Lutosławski also wrote a solo composition for this instrument. He composed his Sacher Variation in 1975 at the request of Mstislav Rostropovich. Another solo work, this time intended for double bass, is Titane by Elżbieta Sikora – belonging in the realm of compositions for students of music commissioned by the director of the Conservatoire in Angouleme, Jacques Pési.

The fullness of the sound of the string quintet will be revealed in two contrasting compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki and Felix Ignacy Dobrzyński. The first of these composers in his String Quintet "Leaves of an unwritten diary" returns to various stages of his own artistic language development. From the chamber music tradition also grows the work of Dobrzyński, Chopin’s school friend. His Piano Quintet in F major is an artistic reaction to the defeat of the November Uprising and a manifestation of the composer's courage – despite the risk resulting from the political moods, in the third movement Dobrzyński quoted the melody of Mazurek Dąbrowskiego, a military song that was to become Poland’s national anthem in 1918.

More information at: http://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl/component/nfmcalendar/event/6720

Bydgoszcz | Harpsichord music

Wieczór kameralny w Filharmonii Pomorskiej im. Ignacego Jana Paderewskiego 20 lutego 2019 roku o godz. 19:00 będzie prawdziwą ucztą pełną muzycznych rarytasów, zwłaszcza dla wielbicieli muzyki klawesynowej.

An intimate evening at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pomeranian Philharmonic on February 20, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.will be a real feast full of musical delicacies, especially for fans of harpsichord music.

Marek Toporowski – harpsichordist, organist, chamber musician and conductor – is especially valued as a harpsichord virtuoso and conductor specializing in the performance of baroque oratorio music. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Warsaw (organ – Józef Serafin, harpsichord – Leszek Kędracki), he improved his skills under the supervision of masters in France, Germany and the Netherlands. At the Academy of Music in Katowice he runs the harpsichord class. His CDs of early Polish music were awarded the "Fryderyk" award four times, and other records received nominations for this award.

Marek Toporowski and the Capella Bydgostiensis Chamber Orchestra will begin the evening with Concert No. 4 in B flat Major by Rameau, considered one of the most important composers of the 18th century and the founder of the French opera. Next, we will listen to the Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in E major, BWV 1053 and the soloist's rendition of Hommage à J.S. Bach by Ryszard Borowski. The finale will include Harpsichord Concerto in B flat Major and Symphony in G Major by Josef Mysliveček, known as "divine Bohemian" (il divine boemo), who was a close friend and mentor of the young Mozart.

More information at: http://www.filharmonia.bydgoszcz.pl/blog/wydarzenia/kregu-muzyki-klawesynowej/

Warsaw | Concert on the 100th anniversary of the Legislative Sejm

A concert commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first sitting of the Sejm after Poland regained its independence will be held at the Grand Theater – National Opera on February 19, 2019. The event with the participation of the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland will be broadcast by the Polish Radio Programme 2 at 7.00 p.m.

The programme of the concert commemorating the centenary of the Legislative Sejm in the Grand Theatre – National Opera is a kind of symbolic journey through the history of Polish music. Completed in 1969, the Old Polish Music by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki includes symbolic quotations from two old Polish works: fanfare of brass instruments is based on the medieval Benedicamus Domino, and string parts derive from a Renaissance song by Wacław z Szamotuł Już się zmierzcha. Polonaise brillante in A major by Henryk Wieniawski symbolizes the times of the nineteenth-century virtuosity (adored by the then public), but it is also a reference to the great, Sarmatian tradition of dancing. Concert overture by Karol Szymanowski is a piece symbolizing the aspirations of Polish music almost on the eve of regaining independence.

There are also three works of foreign composers included in the programme. Interlude from the unfinished Oratorio Saint Stanislaus by Ferenc Liszt and a symphonic prelude Polonia by Edward Elgar directly refer to the Polish traditions and history. Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell was written for the British film Dangerous Moonlight (1941), describing the tragedy of September 1939.

The works will be performed by the Orchestra of the Grand Theatre –Polish National Opera under the direction of José Maria Florêncio and soloists: Jakub Jakowicz (violin), Michał Szymanowski (piano).

Wrocław | 15th International Conference "Traditions of Silesian Musical Culture"

The 15th International Conference "Traditions of Silesian Musical Culture" will take place on March 20-21, 2019 at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław

The academic year 2018/2019 is special for the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław as it marks the 70th anniversary of the Wrocław-based music school of higher education which was established in 1948. On this occasion the Chair of Music Theory and History of Silesian Musical Culture has prepared the 15th edition of the longest-standing conference held at the Academy of Music in Wrocław that was initiated by Professor Maria Zduniak in 1980. The aim of the project entitled Traditions of Silesian Musical Culture is to cultivate the rich musical culture of Silesia, which is an important part of Europe. We wish to demonstrate distinctive features of this culture that arose from the overlapping of various national, religious and artistic traditions.

This year’s edition of the conference will feature 24 papers presented by eminent scholars from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland. The subject matter will concern such issues as the identity of Silesian culture, the presence of music at church and secular institutions and at courts, the connections between important music figures and Silesia, and folk and artistic music by Silesian composers.

The conference will be accompanied by a concert of vocal-and-instrumental lyrical music by Wroclaw-based composers and by an exhibition devoted to music theory conferences.

DOWNLOAD: Conference Programme

Anna Granat-Janki

Poznań | Music of the time of the Great War

On February 18, 2019 at 7.00 p.m. at the Polish Theatre in Poznań, artists from countries involved in both sides of the conflict, known as the Great War, which shook the world at the beginning of the 20th century, will meet to play a concert together.

Referring to events from 100 years ago, musicians from Germany, France, Japan and Poland will perform works by composers who lived and created in the years 1914-1918 and on whom, like on thousands of their countrymen, the war has left its painful mark. The concert will take place on February 18, 2019. This date is almost exactly on the 100th anniversary of the end of the Greater Poland Uprising (the Uprising ceased on February 16, 1919). The partner of the event is the Polish Theater in Poznań, where artists will perform on a large stage. The choice of place is not accidental and in this case it refers to the rich tradition from the turn of 19th and 20th century, that is combining theater evenings with concerts.

The musical idea behind this project is deeply rooted in history – each work describes a fragment of the history of the First World War. Sopranist Cécile Achille, violinist Airi Suzuki, pianist Hinrich Alpers and the Inter-Opera Orchestra conducted by Adam Domurat will present compositions by R.V. Williams, M. Ravel, G. Faure, R. Stephan, C. Debussy, F. Poulenc and K. Szymanowski.

More information at: https://www.wieniawski.pl/news/aktualnosci-towarzystwo-wieniawskiego/muzyka-czasu-wielkiej-wojny-18-02-2019-19-00.html

Warsaw | The University's Composers In Memoriam

Students of the piano classes at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music will perform a concert in memory of the University's Composers on February 18, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the FCUM Concert Hall.

The programme of the concert will include piano works of composers associated with the University of Music in Warsaw: Juliusz Wertheim, Stefan Kisielewski, Jan Ekier, Marian Sawa, Władysław Żeleński, as well as Roman Statkowski and Grażyna Bacewicz, whose 160th death and 110th birthday anniversaries are celebrated this year. The concert is organised under the artistic supervision of Dr Monika Quinn.

Free entrance cards are available from February 4 at the Chopin University Press (Mon.–Fri., 4:00-7:00 p.m.) and via www.umfc.bilety24.pl.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Musicologist Jerzy Gołos has passed away

We regret to inform that on 10 February 2019, professor Jerzy Stanisław Gołos, musicologist and organologist, has passed away at the age of 87.

In the years 1951-60 Jerzy Gołos studied Russian and Polish philology at Columbia University in New York and musicology at the New York University with P. Lang and G. Reese. In 1961 he obtained a PhD at the University of Warsaw based on the work "WTM tablature as a monument of organ music", written under the direction of H. Feicht. In 1971 was habilitated at the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 1962-64 he taught Russian language and literature at the City University of New York, and in 1973-76 he was the head of the music iconography center and consultant at RILM. He studied liturgical songs of Russian Old Believers. In 1975 he conducted research and field recordings in Alaska.

He cooperated with the Monuments Documentation Center in Warsaw (currently the National Heritage Institute) as a consultant for historic musical instruments, he was also an expert in this area at the Ministry of Culture and Arts. For many years he lectured at the Department of Musicology at the University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski in Warsaw (in 1978-99 Catholic Theological Academy) and at the Warsaw Academy of Music (currently the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music), where he was the head of the Department of Theory of Music. In 1993 he obtained the title of professor.

He was an expert in the history of organ and organ music. He published a number of works devoted to this subject, including: Outline of the history of organ building in Poland (1966), Polish organ and organ music (1972), Terminologicaldictionary of monuments: Keyboard instruments (1972, together with Z. Kobus and B. Vogel) , A Guide to Old Music Instruments (1988), The Polish Organ (1992), Warsaw Organ, Vol. 1-3 (2003).

Death of Professor Gołos is yet another sad news for Polish musicology in recent times. May he rest in peace.

Katowice | New Music Orchestra at NOSPR

The New Music Orchestra conducted by Szymon Bywalc invites you to a chamber concert, which will take place on Sunday, February 17, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra headquarters in Katowice. The prgoramme will include works by Marcel Chyrzyński and Piotr Warzecha. Bartłomiej Duś, Rafał Łuc and Silesian Accordion Quintet will perform with the OMN.

Concerto for saxophone and sinfonietta "War Game" by Marcel Chyrzyński was premiered at the Krakow Composers' Festival in 2015. The composition lasting almost 20 minutes is extremely energetic and at times dramatic. Piotr Warzecha's Moments III presents the accordion sound palette by emphasizing the nuances of subsequent segments and the dynamic differences between them.

Almost in all the works of Toshio Hosokawa the soloist represents a human being, while the orchestra – nature and the universe – both external and internal. Voyage IV Extasis is intended for solo accordion and chamber ensemble. Hosokawa believes that the beginning of the accordion was a Japanese traditional shô instrument, a kind of oral harmonica in which the sound is produced by inhaling and exhaling air.

During the evening, we will alo listen to the composition of Seonjin Yun – laureate of the 3rd International Composers' Competition "Patri Patriae" for the piece dedicated to the memory of pope John Paul II. Rituale II was honored with the third prize and additionally with a prize awarded by the Artistic Director of the New Music Orchestra, in the form of performance of the composition as part of the cycle of concerts of the New Music Orchestra at the NOSPR in the season 2018/2019.

More information at: http://www.nospr.org.pl/pl/koncerty/1398/orkiestra-muzyki-nowej