news

An open-air premiere of Anna Jędrzejewska's mini-opera Umbra will take place on 22 October 2021 at 6.00 p.m. in the Warsaw Moat Park.

The one-act multimedia mini-opera for soprano and piano with electronics is an internal dialogue of ego and superego in the metaphor of reflections and projections of the mind, a process of being aware of oneself, defining "me". The eponymous umbra is a total shadow; a term usually used in reference to an eclipse. It is a metaphor for the concept of a Jungian shadow. The libretto was written by Wojciech Skowronek and the visualization project was created by Kamil Kowalski. The story unfolds as a reflection on man in today's world, in the decline of civilization, in the threat of a global and pandemic conflict. To what extent does the consciousness of today's man correspond to the challenges of our times? Are we really aware of ourselves, or, like in a Platonic cave, do we talk about the images we create based on reflections, projections and images distorted by the culture of "posing"? The main character stands on the stage surrounded by three screens which are supposed to be "holograms" themselves. She is surrounded by her id, ego and superego talking to each other, as in meditation.

The piece will be performed by the opera singer Aleksandra Klimczak, who will process her voice live electronically, and the composer herself, who plays the piano.

The mini opera was created as part of the "Mobile in Clture" programme.

The first performance will be broadcast online from the PanDymińska club on 21 October at 8.00 p.m.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

21 October: https://www.facebook.com/events/616549393089184 

22 October: https://www.facebook.com/events/1036795130480961 

Polish ethnomusicologist Prof. Anna Czekanowska-Kuklińska, honorary member of the Polish Composers' Union, died on 18 October 2021 in Warsaw. As the main representative of Slavic music studies in Poland, she devoted the majority of her research to the origin of the Slavs in the musical and ethnographic perspective.

She studied musicology at the University in Poznań, the Freie Universität in Berlin and the University in Cologne. In 1968 she defended her habilitation thesis entitled Narrow range melodies in the Slavic countries at the University of Warsaw. In 1975 she obtained the title of associate professor, and in 1983 – the title of full professor of musicology.

From 1953 to 1999 she was working at the University of Warsaw. In 1958 she co-founded with Marian Sobieski the first Department of Folk Music (Ethnomusicology) in Poland, at the University of Warsaw. In 1969-1999 she was the head of the Ethnomusicology Department, and in 1975-1991 the head of the Institute of Musicology. She conducted many lectures at the Universities in Europe, USA and Russia. From 1999 to 2004 she was the head of Ethnomusicology Department at the Catholic University in Lublin. From 2004 she lectured at Collecium Civitas – a non-state university based in Warsaw, entitled to award doctoral degrees.

Anna Czekanowska was a member of the Polish Composers' Union (from 1967), Polish Cection of the Societe Internationale de Musique Contemporaine (from 1983), International Folk Music Council / International Council for Traditional Music (from 1957), European Seminar in Ethnomusicology (from 1982), Society for Ethnomusicology (from 1975), British Forum for Ethnomusicology (from 1998), Warsaw Scientific Society (from 1990), Scientific Society of the Catholic University of Lublin (from 2003). She sat on the IFMC / ICTM Board (1976-1983) and ESEM Board (1990-1996), she was the vice-president of the Polish Section of SIMC, an honorary member of ESEM (from 2002) and the Polish Section of SIMC.

The funeral will take place on 25 October at 12.00 p.m. in the St. Charles Borromeo Church at the Powązki Cemetery (Old Powązki) in Warsaw.

Hail to Her Memory!

During seven days of events on 25-31 October 2021, the audience of the 10th jubilee edition of the festival will be able to participate in ten concerts, two artistic installations and several performances. NeoQuartet, Polish string quartet from Gdańsk, is the initiator and originator of the festival.

Festiwal jest platformą łączącą artystów z różnych kultur i dziedzin sztuki, wydarzeniem intrygującym i nietuzinkowym. Najnowsze światowe trendy w muzyce i sztuce współczesnej, międzynarodowa obsada, najwyższa jakość artystyczna oraz atmosfera sprzyjająca kontaktowi z kulturą – to charakteryzuje również jubileuszową edycję.

Each of the concerts is planned as a multidisciplinary performance, during most of them the audience will be part of the artistic process. The performers include both leading foreign artists (Trond Reinholdtsen, Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Electric Primitivo, Jennifer Torence, Vocal Group Putni), as well as the most outstanding Polish ensembles and soloists (Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej, Piotr Sałajczyk, Miłosz Pękala, Martyna Zakrzewska, Bartłomiej Sutt).

A performative installation by Marek Rogulski and an all-night concert-happening designed by Stefan Wesołowski will be created especially for the festival. The hosts of the festival, the NeoQuartet, will perform several times, presenting, among others, the cult work of Black Angels by Georg Crumb and the premiere of the Modern Multicultural Quartet project. We will hear dozens of compositions written by composers from around the world, and nine of them will have their premiere at the festival, including works created as part of the "Composing Commissions" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance. The end of the event and its final concert are the 15th anniversary of NeoQuartet and a joint concert with Małgorzata Walentynowicz, Marsija, Michał Jacaszek and Emil Miszk.

Composition students will have the opportunity to take part in composition workshops held by Trond Reinholdtsen – this-year festival’s Patron and Composer-in-Residence, and in individual reading sessions workshops held by NeoQuartet. Children and teenagers will be able to participate in theater and music classes conducted by actress and director Agnieszka Płoszajska.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Programme: https://neoarte.pl/ 

The Composition and Music Theory Student Research Group of the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź invites you to participate in the 1st Intercollegiate Science and Art Conference "contraddizioni", which will be held online on 21-22 October 2021.

The idea behind the event is to confront artistic phenomena. The first edition will present the research on "contraddizioni" (Italian – contradictions) and similarities – relations in works that lies in between contemporary classical and popular music.

Each edition of the event will be an opportunity to establish cooperation with another research group of the Polish music academy or university. The partners of the first edition are the New Media Art and Science Student Reseach Group and the Composition and Music Theory Science and Art Student Research Group of the Academy of Music in Wrocław. The conference will also be attended by Dr. Andrzej Mądro (Academy of Music in Krakow), as well as teachers from Lodz and Wroclaw music academies. Lectures will be given by: Prof. Cezary Duchnowski, Prof. Artur Zagajewski, Dr Katarzyna Dziewiątkowska, Dr Marta Śniady, Dr Adam Porębski and Anna Wójcikowska. Those interested will be able to take part in composition workshops with Jacek Sotomski.

The second day of the conference will be an opportunity to present the results of student and doctoral research, presenting the confrontation of popular and classical music. Selected articles, with the consent of the authors, will be published in the post-conference volume and in the pages of academic journals.

The conference will also feature two online concerts: a concert with works dedicated to the rock trio, as well as a DJ set based on samples, including material recorded during the first concert.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: http://www.amuz.lodz.pl/pl/wydarzenia/contraddizioni 

The premiere of Sławomir Kupczak's Recovered Music will take place on 19 October 2021 at 7.00 p.m. at the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź. The piece, which will be presented by Radical Polish Ansambl, was created as part of the "Composing Commissions" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Radical Polish Ansambl is a band that made folk music the starting point for sound and structural searches. These searches, as the name of the group suggests, sometimes produce quite radical results. Although folklore is associated with tradition, predictability and permanence, South African musicians prove that it can become a basis for creating artistic avant-garde. Interestingly, at the beginning of these musical peregrinations there is no Masurian village, picturesquely situated among fields, but ... India. It was there, in the Public Library in Delhi in 2016, that the Polish clarinetist Wacław Zimpel discovered musical themes combining elements of raga and Polish mazurkas. Seven artists, who soon formed the Radical Polish Ansambl, undertook the reconstruction of this extraordinary music and persuaded contemporary composers to collaborate.

Currently, South African musicians – six violinists and a percussionist who plays the dżaz (country percussion set) – perform works by outstanding Polish composers. During the next concert, they will premiere Sławomir Kupczak's Recovered Music, as well as present Alap – Dźor – Jhal by Tadeusz Sielanka and Composition with a String by Piotr Żak.

The commission and premiere of the new piece by Sławomir Kupczak was co-financed by the Minister of Culture, National Heritage and Sport from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the "Composing Commissions" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Ticket Information: https://filharmonia.lodz.pl/pl/wydarzenia/koncert-muzyka-czwartego-swiata