official patronage

On 28 September 2019 at 7 p.m. at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Jerzy Semkow Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus conducted by Daniel Stabraw, who will also appear as a soloist that evening, will perform symphonic works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and Andrzej Panufnik.

Andrzej Panufnik, an outstanding Polish composer who resided in Great Britain since the 1950s, has developed his own individual style, a rich and genuine harmonic language in particular; at the same time, he had always been fond of clear forms and showed a visible preference for beautiful melodies and a euphonia of sound, which linked him to the Neoclassical current. All these features can be found in the Violin Concerto composed at the commission of the great violin player Yehudi Menuhin. Shortly before the commission, the composer, who was the son of the splendid luthier Tomasz Panufnik, was given his father’s precious violin previously owned by Dawid Ojstrach. Deeply touched by this gift, he was even more eager to accept the commission. “I believe that when I composed a piece for violin, I was deeply affected by my childhood memories, such as the smell of wood my father made his instruments of, or my mother’s play. Thus, for me, the piece was a form of a journey back, inevitably saturated with the spirit of Poland […] I therefore decided to focus on the violin as an instrument with a warm, expressive sound” – he wrote about his piece. The Concerto’s values and an excellent interpretation of Menuhin contributed to its immense popularity. The piece was played by numerous violinists, eagerly recorded and still remains one of Andrzej Panufnik’s most famous works.

The excellent soloist and conductor, Daniel Stabrawa – the first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic and, since 1995, the director and conductor of Capella Bydgostiensis, will complement the concert’s programme with a youthful, charming and melodic Violin Concerto No. 1 by Mozart and Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 (similarly composed by a teenage genius).

Piotr Maculewicz

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://sinfoniaiuventus.pl/28wrzesnia/ 

On 27 and 28 September 2019, the Municipal Cultural Center in Nowa Ruda (2A Strzelecka St.) will host improvisation workshops for children entitled "Tell me a story". The events are organized by the Polish Society for Contemporary Music.

The workshops are a continuation of a project commenced in 2015. During this year's edition, the classes will take place in two series: in Nowa Ruda, Lower Silesia (27-28 September 2019) and in Skoki, Krajenka and Wągrowiec, Greater Poland (24-26 October 2019). They are intended for groups of 25 children at the age of 3-5 years and for children aged 6-8 years. In total, there will be 12 workshops for preschool and school groups as well as workshops open for children and their guardians.

The main idea of ​​the project is to trigger graphic-inspired improvisations. Children will create their own stories based on picture books. Improvisation is the most basic, primary and joyful form of music performance, which is why the workshops combine children's creativity and imagination with books and contemporary music. The musical guest of the workshops will be the Trillingen Duo group, composed of: multi-instrumentalist Iwona Jędruch and double bassist Małgorzata Kołcz – workshop coordinator. Adventure through improvisations together with artists will be led by composer and pianist Jarosław Siwiński.

The organizers invite children aged 3-5 and 6-8 to the upcoming classes. The youngest group will learn, play and improvise from 10:00  to 11:30 a.m.; children aged 6-8 years – from 12:00 to 13:30 p.m.

Participation in the workshops is free, but due to the limited number of places, prior registration is required. Registrations for 27 September: 74 872 44 85 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Registration for 28 September: 790 395 228 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

SEE: Facebook Event

On 27-28 September 2019, the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk will host the International Moniuszko Congress "Stanisław Moniuszko in Polish and World Culture. New perspectives and interpretations” – one of the most important events of the celebration of the Moniuszko Year.

In connection with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Stanisław Moniuszko – the father of Polish national opera and one of the most important Polish composers – the thematic scope of the Congress includes the composer's biography and work as well as his artistic achievements considered both in the national-cultural context and in the perspective of socio-aesthetic situation in Europe of his time.

The Congress programme will include two plenary lectures and several dozen papers. The meeting is planned in four themetic blocks composed of four parallel sections, during which an international group of speakers will address issues from the following thematic areas:

1. Stanisław Moniuszko, the composer and his work, from the perspective of various humanistic disciplines (musicology, history, theatre studies, film studies, philology, sociology, cultural studies, etc.);

2. Trends, interpretations and perspectives in Moniuszko studies;

3. Nineteenth-century Polish music as the context and backdrop to Moniuszko’s creative output;

4. The concept of Moniuszko’s Polish national opera compared to European currents of national stage output;

5. The role of music in shaping nineteenth-century political and cultural awareness;

6. The dialectic of the socio-political and artistic domains in musical output of the nineteenth century.

The Congress will be accompanied by two concerts organized by its Gdańsk partners. On 27 September, the Fryderyk Chopin Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk will hold a concert of Fryderyk Chopin's music, and on 28 September – the Moniuszko Gala, inaugurating the 2019/2020 seson.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme available at: http://www.amuz.gda.pl/events/miedzynarodowy-kongres-moniuszkowski-stanislaw-moniuszko-w-kulturze-polskiej-i-swiatowej-nowe-perspektywy-i-interpretacje/ 

The 68th season of the Opole Philharmonic will be inaugurated by the music of its patron – Józef Elsner – on 27 September 2019 at 7 p.m.

This time, the orchestra and its director, Przemysław Neumann, will reach for the overture from the opera Jagiełło in Tenczyn. The work, existing only in the manuscript, was never recorded and certainly not performed over the last century. The beginning of the Philharmonic's season will therefore honor Elsner in the ongoing year of his 250th birthday anniversary. The programme will be complemented by Johannes Brahms'Symphony No. 2 and Fryderyk Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, featuring Krzysztof Jabłoński as a soloist.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://filharmonia.opole.pl/wydarzenia/68-sezon-artystyczny-inauguracja-68-sezonu-artystycznego/ 

The guest of the next meeting of the "Vivat Academia" series, which will take place on Thursday, 26 September 2019 at 6 p.m. in the Archdiocese Museum in Katowice, will be Prof. Leon Markiewicz – outstanding musicologist, pedagogue and publicist. The meeting and the accompanying concert will be hosted by Grażyna Brewińska.

The Institution for the Promotion and Dissemination of Music "Silesia" joined the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, which is the oldest academic institution in Upper Silesia. Once again, the organizers invite music lovers to a meeting held as part of the "Vivat Academia!" series, which gives the opportunity to meet the rectors of the Katowice Academy of Music.

In 1949–55, Professor Leon Markiewicz studied pedagogy and theory of music at the PWSM in Katowice – today's Academy of Music, becoming its rector in 1979–81. He has also been the head of the Music Theory Department and the head of the Music Education Department. For many years he was a lecturer at the Pedagogical University in Częstochowa. He was the director and secretary of the jury of the International Grzegorz Fitelberg Competition for Conductors in Katowice. The impressive achievements of Prof. Markiewicz covers around 140 publications, and nearly 300 reviews that appeared in the music and daily press. His research interests are focused on music analysis, Silesian music culture, all aspects of music pedagogy, and the popularization of music.

As always, the meeting led by Grażyna Brewińska will be accompanied by music. We will listen to the works by Manuel de Falla, Maurice Ravel, Karol Szymanowski and Grzegorz Fitelberg in the interpretations of graduates and current lecturers of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music – violinist Adam Mokrus and pianist Katarzyna Makowska.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://www.silesia.art.pl/

The 6th Concert of Premieres of Accordion Works will take place on Monday, 7 October 2019 at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Academy of Music in Krakow (43 St. Tomasz St.).

The programme of this year's concert will include: Jacek Kopiec – Elegy (2019) for solo accordion; Vyacheslav Kyrylov – Sentimental (2019) for two accordions; Jakub Sarwas – Hyporchema (2011) for flute, violin and accordion, Hurry Up! (2007-2008) for five accordions; Maciej Zimka – New Little Suite (2019) for solo accordion, 4 aphorisms (2008) for solo accordion, Chanson I (2011) for solo accordion.

The concert will feature both experienced and recognized, as well as young, very talented musicians: Alena Budziňàkovà, Mateusz Dudek, Jacek Kopiec, Wiesław Ochwat, Grzegorz Palus, Konstanty Sobula, Maciej Zimka – accordions, Oriana Masternak – violin, Wiesław Suruło – flute. The organizers of the event are the Woodwind and Accordion Faculty at the Academy of Music in Krakow and the Art Forum Foundation.

The project is co-financed by the City of Krakow. Admission free!

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://fundacjaartforum.pl/ 

Boris Brovtsyn, one of the most versatile soloists and chamber musicians, will perform during on 27 September 2019 at 7 p.m. during the symphony concert inaugurating the 75th anniversary season of the Silesian Philharmonic.

This outstanding violinist will perform Karol Szymanowski's Second Violin Concerto, filled with exceptional beauty and drama, echoing the music of Podhale. The Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic led by Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk will begin the evening with Three Dances, Op. 34 for orchestra by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, paying tribute to the patron of the Philharmonic. The programme will be complemented by Wojciech Kilar's Symphony No. 4 Sinfonia de motu, based on Dante's Divine Comedy. The soloists will be Iwona Socha and Adam Kutny.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: https://filharmonia-slaska.eu 

One of the most interesting Polish composers of the young generation, conductor and music theorist, laureate of many international composer's awards – Szymon Godziemba-Trytek. His monographic album Choral Works, recorded by the Polish Radio Choir under the baton of Vaclovas Augustinas, will go on sale on 27 September 2019.

Szymon Godziemba-Trytek is an assistant at the Faculty of Composition, Theory of Music and Sound Engineering at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, he also lectures on choral music of the 20th and 21st centuries at the Postgraduate Choirmaster and Voice Emission Studies at this university. In the 2016/2017 season, he was a composer-in-residence at the Polish Radio Choir in Kraków (as part of the Institute of Music and Dance programme). In 2019, he received a PhD in Music Composition.

In his compositions, which can be interpreted as a declaration of faith, he refers to the books of the Old and New Testaments and prayers, juxtaposing them with topics important for Polish history and culture. Sacred works dominate the list of his compositions. As he admits: "What I am looking for in sacred music is the possibility of stopping and transferring to an alternative space, which encourages reflection and contemplation, and is associated with an authentic experience. I am looking for a space where it is more valuable to ask questions than to look for a clear answer. "

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

The laureates of the 9th edition of the Coryphaeus Polish Music Award will be announced during a gala ceremony at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw on 1 October 2019 – the International Music Day. The winners selected by the Polish music community will receive statuettes in the categories: 'Personality of the Year', 'Event of the Year', 'Honorary Award' and 'Discovery of the Year'.

The award gala will be broadcast on the IMITpolska channel on YouTube www.youtube.com/user/IMITpolska and on Polish Radio Programme 2. The transmission will start at 7.30 p.m. The concert will feature soprano Joanna Freszel and pianist Maciej Grzybowski, the saxophone quartet The Whoop Group, Marcin Wasilewski Trio and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy under the direction of Marek Moś.

Nominees in the category 'Personality of the year': Łukasz Długosz – flautist; Jakub Józef Orliński – counter-tenor; Martyna Pastuszka – violinist; Maciej Prochaska – musicologist; Aga Zaryan – jazz vocalist. Nominees in the category 'Event of the Tear': Prince Władysław Lubomirski Festival; Kromer Biecz Festival; 10/40 Kwartet w Muzeach; Moniuszko for the World; Moniuszko. Halka. Nominees in the category 'Discovery of the Year': Zuzanna Budzyńska i Szymon Ogryzek – chamber musicians; Janusz Olejniczak – radio music promoter; Jakub Józef Orliński – counter-tenor; Tomasz Ritter – pianist; Sasha Strunin – jazz vocalist. Due to the nature of the Honorary Award, the winner's name will be announced at the awards gala

The winners will receive the Coryphaeus statuette designed by Prof. Adam Myjak. The financial awards are funded by the ZAiKS Association of Authors and the STOART Association of Performing Artists. The event is organized by the Institute of Music and Dance and Polish Radio Programme 2.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information about the nominees and award gala at: www.koryfeusz.org.pl.