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Passion Concert in Zakopane

Passion concert Stabat Mater dolorósa iuxta Crucem lacrimósa, the programme of which includes Karol Szymanowski's Stabat Mater and compositions for choir a cappella, will be held on March 24, 2016 at St. Cross Church in Zakopane (30 Chałubińskiego St).

Szymanowski composed Stabat Mater in 1925–1926 for 3 soloists, choir and orchestra. Divided into six movements, the work is based on Polish translation of the Marian hymn made by Józef Janowski. This religious composition, which contains the elements of folk and mediaeval music, has not been performed in Zakopane for over 30 years.

Performers:
Katarzyna Wiwer - soprano
Joanna Bogdańska - mezzosoprano
Rafał Żur - baritone
Choir of the University of Bielsko-Biała (dir. Jan Borowski)
Bielsko Chamber Choir (dir. Beata Borowska)
Tatra Mood Orchestra
Agnieszka Kreiner - conductor

The concert is organized by the City of Zakopane and St. Cross Church in Zakopane.

Admission free.

Premiere of Piano Quintet by Stanisław Bromboszcz

Piano Quintet written by Stanisław Bromboszcz will be premiered on March 31, 2016 at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski State Music School Complex in Białystok (2 Podleśna St).

The programme, performed by pianist Wojciech Świątoński and Nostadema Quartet (Kamil Staniczek, Marta Oyrzanowska, Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska and Joanna Citkowicz-Włodarczyk), includes also Prisma by Bartosz Kowalski, winner of the Krzysztof Penderecki International Composition Competition "Arboretum" in 2012, and Piano Quintet by Paweł Łukaszewski, which was presented at the Festival of Polish Pianists in Słupsk and "Music on the Heights" Festival in Zakopane.

Admission free.

Music for the Holy Week

Following the annual tradition, the Polish Chamber Choir directed by Jan Łukaszewski will perform 2 concerts in Gdańsk during the Holy Week (on March 24 and 25, 2016).

The concerts, held in the Sanctuary of the Mother of God of Fatima (March 24) and St. Mary’s Basilica (March 25), will feature compositions by Andrzej Hakenberger, Andrzej Koszewski, Fryderyk Chopin, Francis Poulenc, Paweł Łukaszewski, Antionio Lotti, Olivier Messiaen, Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger and Agata Krawczyk.

Admission free.

Roman Maciejewski’s music in the Warsaw Rising Museum

Lutosławski Piano Duo (Emilia Sitarz and Bartłomiej Wąsik) will perform compositions by Roman Maciejewski on March 30, 2016 in the Warsaw Rising Museum.

Maciejewski's style blends neoclassicism with folk influences and bears traces of his fascination with ideas of creating a modern national style realized by Karol Szymanowski. He studied with Stanisław Wiechowicz and Kazimierz Sikorski. His many compositions include orchestral and chamber works, piano pieces and many transcriptions for two pianos. He composed also music for ballets, as well as theatre productions of Ingmar Bergman, including Camus's Kaligula. The Requiem, which he composed for several years and dedicated to the war victims, is regarded as the crowning piece in his ouvre. It calls for very large performing forces and is rarely performed.

The concert is organized by the Warsaw Rising Museum, PWM Edition and Polish Radio Programme 2.

Admission free.

Piano Recital by Jacek Kortus

3rd concert of the cycle "Pianists at the Paderewski Academy of Music" will feature the performance of Jacek Kortus on March 23, 2016 at the Aula Nova of the Academy of Music in Poznań.

The programme includes Sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35, Scherzo in B minor, Op. 20, Polonaise in A flat major, Op. 53 by Fryderyk Chopin, Preludes Nos. 5 and 12, Op. 32 by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Three Fragments from the ballet "Petrushka" by Igor Stravinsky.

Jacek Kortus won prizes in national piano competitions, including the Chopin competitions in Antonin (2000, 2005 – First Prize) and Szafarnia (1999). He received a special prize at the "Artur Rubinstein in Memoriam" Competition for Young Pianists in Bydgoszcz (2004) and a distinction at the 15th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. He has been awarded a scholarship by the Minister of Culture (2002, 2005), as well as the Young Art Medal for outstanding artistic achievements and the Hipolit Cegielski Young Positivist’s Medal (2006). In 2008 Polskie Nagrania released his first solo disc with Sonata in B flat minor by Fryderyk Chopin and Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt.

The cycle, which started in January and will continue until May, includes recitals of the Academy’s young piano teachers - Joanna Marcinkowska (April 2), Piotr Żukowski (April 29) and Piotr Szychowski (May 11).

Admission free.

Premiera sztuki „Multimedialne Coś” B. Schaeffera w Paryżu

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.

1050th Anniversary of Polish Christianity at the National Audiovisual Insitute

In March and April 2016 the National Audiovisual Institute will present 2 productions of St. Luke Passion by Krzysztof Penderecki (one staged in 2012 and another performed at this year’s Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival) and a recording of a premiere performance of Sanctus Adalbertus, Op. 71 by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.

This musical cycle, organized on the occasion of 1050th anniversary of Poland’s baptism, will begin on the Holy Thursday - March 24, 2016 at 6.00 pm. The audience will be presented with the recording of Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion, which was staged in Alvernia Studios in 2012 by Grzegorz Jarzyna. The composition, premiered on March 30, 1966, was comissioned by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk on the 700th anniversary of the Münster Cathedral’s foundation. This year also marked the millenial anniversary of Poland’s baptism.

Performers who participated in the recording: Iwona Hossa - soprano, Thomas E. Bauer - baritone, Piotr Nowacki - bass, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Silesia and Boys’ Choir Pueri Cantores Sancti Nicolai.

Produced by National Audiovisual Institute, Krakow Festival Office, Katowice the City of Gardens Culture Institution.

Next projections will be held on April 26 and 27, 2016.

Music Teacher of the Year 2015

Polish Association for Music Education and Animation, Fryderyk Chopin Institute and Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry will anounce the results of the Music Teacher of the Year 2015 competition. The prize-giving gala will be held on March 19, 2016 at 5.00 pm in the Concert Hall of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw.

The competition was aimed at drawing public attention to the work done by Polish music teachers and activating all types of music circles. Any local community was allowed to submit applications of teachers who work in public and music schools, as well as those who concentrate on non-formal teaching practice.

The prize-giving gala will be broadcast live at the YouTube channel.

"Electrified Music" at the Academy of Music in Poznań

45th Poznań Music Spring and Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music encourage the audience to attend events of the Electrified Music series, held between March 18 and 21, 2016 in Poznań.

Programme:
March 18
12.00 - Ever-Changing Fragments - lecture/presentation by Chang Seok Choi (Korea/Great Britain)

March 20
5.00 pm - concert From Kolberg to Live Coding
Compositions by Jarosław Kordaczuk (premiere), Scott Wilson (premiere), Monika Dalach, Radosław Mateja, Anna Maria Huszcza, Wang Bingtang, Mu Yunze, Sun Yuming and Shan Ting.
Introduction: Lidia Zielińska

March 21
10.00 am - Super Collider and Live coding - lecture and workshops run by Scott Wilson (University of Birmingham, director of BEAST)
2.00 pm - Monoctone - Hiper-expressive Modular Systems’ Controller - lectrure/presentation by Jarosław Kordaczuk (Studio Ruchome Dźwięki)

Admission free.

More information: www.wiosnamuzyczna.pl, www.amuz.edu.pl