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68th Musica Moderna

68th session of "Musica Moderna", organized by the Academy of Music in Łódź, will be held between March 14 and May 20, 2016.

The programme includes concerts, lectures and meetings with composers (guest lecturers from Sichuan Conservatory of Music - Tan Jin Gang and Fan Hongshuo) and musicians. American, Chinese and Polish music (by Sławomir Kaczorowski, Marcin Stańczyk, Artur Zagajewski, Marta Śniady, Tomasz Szczepanik and many others) will be performed by such artists as Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble under Maciej Koczur or Chamber Choir "Vivid Singers" under Dawid Ber.

Admission to all events is free (except for the concert on April 5 at the Łódź Philharmonic).

More information: www.amuz.lodz.pl

Fryderyk Award Nominees 2016

On March 9, 2016 the Phonographic Academy presented the list of albums nominated to the 22nd edition of the Fryderyk Award. Each year the number of submissions increases – this time over 1120 applications were submitted.

In the "Classical Music" section there are 166 albums (126 in 2015) nominated in 8 categories: Best Album – Choral, Opera and Oratorio Music, Best Album – Early Music, Best Album – Chamber Music, Best Album – Solo Recital, Best Album – Orchestral Music, Best Album – Contemporary Music, Best Foreign Album, Best Polish Music Recording. The list of nominees includes such albums as Verbum Incarnatum, Meccore String Quartet – Szymanowski & Debussy, Stories Nowhere From. Agata Zubel, Cezary Duchnowski – Elettrovoce and real life song – Joanna Freszel.

The award winners will be announced at a special gala held in the Polish Theatre in Warsaw on April 20, 2016 (jazz and pop music) and in the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio on April 21, 2016 (classical music).

More: Fryderyk Award Nominees 2016

Music by Karol Szymanowski and Bohuslav Martinů

On the occasion of 125th annivesary of Karol Szymanowski's birth, the Karol Szymanowski Music Society organizes 19th edition of Evenings with Music by Karol Szymanowski and Bohuslav Martinů between March 14 and 16, 2016 at the Academy of Music in Katowice.

The concerts will be performed by soloists and ensembles from Poland - Łukasz Długosz (flute), Małgorzata Wasiucionek (violin), Tomasz Kamieniak (piano), Katarzyna Pala (clarinet), Lasoń Ensemble, and from Czech Republic - Ivo Kahanek (piano) and Sedlaček String Quartet (prize-winner of the 1st Karol Szymanowski International String Quartet Competition in Katowice and Bohuslav Martinů Competition in Prague).

Admission free (booking free tickets required).

More information: www.am.katowice.pl

New Music at Old Town Hall

Baltic Sea Culture Centre in cooperation with Polish Association of Electroacoustic Music and the Composition Department of Academy of Music in Gdańsk organize another concert of the series "New Music at Old Town Hall", which will be held on March 10, 2016.

The aim of the series is to familiarize the audience with compositions of contemporary electroacoustic music - with its variety, genre’s richness and multiple means of expression. The concert will contain both contemporary and earlier works, pre-recorded or played live with the help of devices, including compositions by Polish composers such as Włodzimierz Kotoński, Andrzej Dobrowolski, Krzysztof Gawlas and Marek Czerniewicz.

Performers:
Krzysztof Olczak (accordion), Tomasz Jocz (piano), Krzysztof Gordon (voice), Dariusz Mazurowski, Krzysztof Gawlas and Marek Czerniewicz (electronic layer)

Programme:
Arne Nordheim - Dinosauros (1971) for accordion and tape
Włodzimierz Kotoński - Tierra Caliente (1992) for tape
Andrzej Dobrowolski - Music for tape and piano (1971–1972)
Krzysztof Gawlas - Strings in the Clouds for piano and computer
François-Bernard Mâche - Nuit blanche (1966) for actor and tape (text by Antonin Artaud)
Marek Czerniewicz - Gezuar, Pero! (2015) for computer

45th Poznań Music Spring

45th International Festival of Contemporary Music ”Poznań Music Spring” will be held between March 14 and 21, 2016.

This year’s edition of the Festival has been programmed according to 3 complementary themes that involve performing music by 20th-century masters (such as Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Iannis Xenakis), works by contemporary Polish composers (special focus put on Poznań-based artists), and the most interesting compositions and projects of foreign contemporary composers.
The Festival will feature several premiere performances of new works, including Marta Ptaszyńska’s Symphony for 104 percussionists, which will be presented at the opening concert. New compositions have been written also by Krzysztof Meyer, Zbigniew Kozub, Yao Chen, Nan Liang, Thorsten Encke, Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska, Leo Bachmann, Rafał Zapała, Peter Bannister, Jerzy Fryderyk Wojciechowski, Monika Kędziora, Grzegorz Duchnowski, Chang Seok Choi and Dariusz Kaliszuk. Apart from the concerts, the audience will be offered to attend meetings with artists, cultural events’ organizers, music journalists and critics ("Atelier" cycle), as well as events for children and youth.

"Poznań Music Spring" was initiated in 1961 by Tadeusz Szeligowski and Florian Dąbrowski. It is currently organized by the Poznań section of the Polish Composers’ Union and More Than One Production Artist Agency.

Programme: www.wiosnamuzyczna.pl

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC, Polish Radio Programme 2, Radio Merkury, Glissando, MeaKultura.pl, kulturapoznan.pl, epoznan.pl.

New Composition by Andrzej Kwieciński

New work un momento indugiò written by Andrzej Kwieciński will be premiered on March 11, 2016 at the Łódź Philharmonic. The concert will be preceded by a meeting with the composer.

Performers:
Silesian Quartet
(Szymon Krzeszowiec - violin I, Arkadiusz Kubica - violin II, Łukasz Syrnicki - viola, Piotr Janosik - cello)
Łódź Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
Maciej Koczur - conductor

Programme:
Arnold Schönberg - Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (after Concerto Grosso, Op. 6 No. 7 by G.F. Händel)
Andrzej Kwieciński - un momento indugiò
Arcangelo Corelli - La Folia for symphony orchestra (instr. by Tadeusz Machl)
Igor Stravinsky - Ballet Suite "Pulcinella"

The concert is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage ("Composing Commissions" programme implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance).

Tickets available on-line at: www.filharmonia.lodz.pl

Jubileusz 20-lecia Festiwalu Beethovenowskiego

„Beethoven i nowe drogi” to idea przewodnia 20. edycji Wielkanocnego Festiwalu Ludwiga van Beethovena, który odbędzie się w dniach 12-25 marca 2016 roku w Warszawie. Jak co roku Festiwal rozpocznie się jednak od niezwykłych wydarzeń w Krakowie – miłośnicy muzyki klasycznej będą mogli nie tylko usłyszeć, ale i zobaczyć prace jednego z największych twórców muzycznych wszech czasów.

Zgodnie z tradycją krakowskie wydarzenia festiwalowe rozpocznie wernisaż wystawy manuskryptów muzycznych w Bibliotece Jagiellońskiej, który odbędzie się 7 marca o godz. 12.00. Kuratorem wystawy „Beethoven i nowe drogi”, którą będzie można oglądać do 25 marca 2016 roku jest Michał Lewicki. Oprawą plastyczną zajął się Mariusz Paluch. Uroczystości otwarcia towarzyszyć będzie recital cenionego pianisty Konrada Skolarskiego, który zaprezentuje dzieła Fryderyka Chopina, Ludwiga van Beethovena, Aleksandra Skriabina i Ferenca Liszta.

W programie krakowskich wydarzeń festiwalowych melomani znajdą ponadto kilka niezwykłych koncertów. Już w poniedziałek 7 marca w Galerii Sztuki Polskiej XIX wieku w Sukiennicach wystąpi jeden z najsłynniejszych polskich kwartetów smyczkowych – Szymanowski Quartet. Artyści zaprezentują 3 Chorały Wacława z Szamotuł (opracowanie), Kwartet smyczkowy h-moll op. 33 nr 1 Josepha Haydna, Nokturn i Tarantellę op. 28 Karola Szymanowskiego (opracowanie) oraz Kwartet smyczkowy C-dur op. 59 nr 3 Ludwiga van Beethovena.

Organizatorzy Festiwalu Beethovenowskiego pomyśleli także o najmłodszych melomanach. We wtorek 8 marca w Centrum Kongresowym ICE Kraków odbędzie się niezwykły koncert zatytułowany Sinfonietka na Beethovenie. Edukacyjno-muzyczne spotkanie dla dzieci (a także dorosłych) poprowadzi orkiestra Sinfonietta Cracovia pod dyrekcją Jurka Dybała. Bezpłatne wejściówki na to wydarzenie można odebrać w siedzibie orkiestry Sinfonietta Cracovia (ul. Papiernicza 2, tel. +48 12 4167075).

W środę 9 marca krakowską odsłonę 20. Wielkanocnego Festiwalu Ludwiga van Beethovena zakończy występ jednego z najbardziej kontrowersyjnych uczestników zeszłorocznej edycji Konkursu Chopinowskiego – łotewskiego pianisty Georgijsa Osokinsa (na zdjęciu). Wraz z Sinfoniettą Cracovią pod batutą Jurka Dybała artysta wykona Koncert fortepianowy e-moll op. 11 Fryderyka Chopina. W programie wieczoru zabrzmią ponadto: Uwertura g-moll Franciszka Lessela oraz VII Symfonia A-dur op. 92 Ludwiga van Beethovena. Koncert odbędzie się w Centrum Kongresowym ICE Kraków o godz. 19.30.

Bilety na wszystkie wydarzenia 20. Wielkanocnego Festiwalu Ludwiga van Beethovena w Krakowie dostępne są na portalu www.eventim.pl, a także w salonach Empik oraz punktach InfoKraków.

Szczegółowy program Festiwalu: www.beethoven.org.pl

"Forefathers’ Eve" at National Theatre in Warsaw

In the 2015/2016 anniversary season, National Theatre in Warsaw stages Forefathers’ Eve by Adam Mickiewicz. The performance directed by Eimuntas Nekrošius with Paweł Szymański’s music will be premiered on March 10, 2016.

Forefathers' Eve is a poetic drama written by 19th-century Polish poet. The title of the drama, considered one of the greateast works of European Romanticism, refers to an ancient Slavic and Lithuanian ceremony commemorating the dead.

This time the main themes that include spirituality, power of rite, sense of community and tragedy of the individual, as well as national and existantial issues, has been interpreted by Lithuanian director Eimuntas Nekrošius. Born in 1952, he graduated from the Lunacharski Institute of Theatre Art in Moscow in 1978. He worked at the State Youth Theatre in Vilnius, Kaunas Drama Theatre, and the Lithuanian International Theatre Festival (LIFE). Since 1998 Nekrosius has been working as the artistic director of Meno fortas theatre studio. He is the recipient of many prestigious national and international awards, such as Lithuanian Theatre Union Prize (1994, 1998), Art Prize of the International Baltic Assembly (1994), Golden Mask Prize (1997, 1999 and 2004), International K. Stanislavsky Fund Premium (2001), award granted by the Italian Critics Association (2007) and UBU Prize (2008). In 2013 he directed Paweł Szymański’s opera Qudsja Zaher, which was staged at the Teatr Wielki-National Opera in Warsaw.

Tickets available on-line at: www.narodowy.pl

Next performances will be held on March 11-13, April 16-17 and 19-20, 2016.

Stefan Kisielewski In Memoriam

Pianist Maciej Grzybowski and Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra under Sławek Adam Wróblewski will perform a concert commemorating Stefan Kisielewski (105th anniversary of his birthday and 25th anniversary of his death) on March 13, 2016 at the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Krakow.

The programme features compositions by Kisielewski which he composed in various moments of his life - Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, Perpetuum mobile, Ballet Polka for symphony orchestra, Suite from the ballet "Fun Fair" and Piano Concerto (which was premiered at the "Warsaw Autumn" Festival in 1991), as well as his and Czesław Miłosz’s texts recited by actor Radosław Krzyżowski.

Tickets available on-line at: www.filharmonia.krakow.pl