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"Great Composers – Great Anniversaries" is a Toruń Symphony Orchestra's project to commemorate artists who celebrate important anniversaries in 2021. The concert on 2 October at 6 p.m. in the CKK Jordanki Rehearsal Room will be devoted to Gustav Mahler.

The project celebrates the following anniversaries: the 280th anniversary of the death of A. Vivaldi, the 100th anniversary of the death of C. Saint-Saëns, the 50th anniversary of the death of I. Stravinsky, the 230th anniversary of the death of W.A. Mozart, the 100th anniversary of the death of W. Żeleński, the 120th anniversary of the death of G. Verdi, and the 110th anniversary of the death of G. Mahler.

The song is the oldest musical genre next to the dance. It results from the combination of poetic word and music and it reflects the history of music from primitive cultures to the 21st century. Bohdan Pociej wrote: "If there is any indestructible element of musicality in a person, then song is its seed." The upcoming concert will feature not only songs by Gustav Mahler, but also by outstanding Romantic composers: Johannes Brahms and Stanisław Moniuszko, performed by Agata Schmidt (mezzo-soprano) and Bartłomiej Wezner.

Co-financed under the "Music" programme carried out by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://tos.art.pl/en/wydarzenia/circle-songs

The Chopin Competition is the most important musical event in Poland and one of the most important musical events in the world. The 18th edition will be held on 2-23 October 2021.

Apart from its huge role in popularising Chopin's music, it discovers the greatest pianistic talents, providing young musicians with the most effective start in their international career. Among the 87 pianists qualified to the 18th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition are 22 Chinese, 16 Polish, 14 Japanese, 7 South Korean, 6 Italian piano players as well as pianists from Armenia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Latvia, Russia, Spain, Thailand, USA, United Kingdom and Vietnam. The Jury of the 18th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition will include eminent artists, distinguished experts and excellent educators. They will select those who will contribute to the shape of the musical world over the coming decades.

The official inauguration of the Chopin Competition is slated for 2 October and will take place at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. The auditions will commence on 3 and end on 20 October. The crowning of the event will be the Grand Awards Gala with a concert by the winners, which will take place on 21 October at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera. The winner of the competition will receive the Gold Medal and the First Prize of €40,000.

With the enthusiasts of Fryderyk Chopin and enthusiasts of artistic competitions in mind, Chopin Institute prepared multimedia apps: mobile for iOS and Andorid (both can be downloaded free of charge from www.chopin2020.pl) and SmartTV app for Samsung Tvs.

Official website: https://chopin2020.pl/pl 

Can you describe this phenomenon in a few sentences?

Sounds accompany us throughout our lives. Apparently, the last sense that declines is hearing. That is why you have to be very careful what you say in the presence of a person who we think is unconscious and does not register anything from the environment...

But what if there is only total silence afterwards? If there is no described and promised "harmony of the spheres"? What if the ideas about perfect sounds experienced here on earth are only an illusion? The shocking variety of sounds is the material of broadly understood creativity. Not only artistic creativity, but also the spontaneous, often the most primitive one.

The beauty of sound is a category so arbitrary, so dependent on the moment, need, idea and goal! A soothing melody of a mother's voice for a child, but also, often irritating, a baby's cry; sounds of animals, for the hungry even the appetizing "cooking" of the dish in a pot or the sizzling of bacon in the pan; nightly, ominous humming of birds, but also the singing of the nightingale; murmur of rain in a secluded house, but also the awe-inspiring sound of a thunderstorm; amazing drum sounds in Spanish Holy Week rites and war drums; whisper, all shades of scream. And finally, perfect beauty – wonderful compositions in which we immerse ourselves completely, absorbing the masterpieces of all musical eras.

I am a professional musician. Sounds are the fabric of my being, a means of confessing hope, faith and love. I thank the Creator for giving me a chance to live in the world of art that I love and which has responded to my feelings.

I will always remember and repeat the words of two Masters – Witold Lutosławski, to "seek harmony in life at all costs in all activities", and Wojciech Kilar: "music cannot replace religion". Lutosławski taught me to be "at the service" of music and people, and Kilar turned my consciousness to the higher spheres, against all temptations. They both warned that Music is a possessive Lady ...

Jadwiga Rappé

A pianist and experienced manager will head the Music Department of the National Institute of Music and Dance from 1 October 2021. Lech Dzierżanowski will be one of the three people at the head of this institution. Katarzyna Meissner has been the director of the National Institute of Music and Dance since April 2020, and Aleksandra Dziurosz, PhD Habil., has been the deputy director heading the Department of Dance since 2018.

"On this special day, which is a celebration of music, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Lech Dzierżanowski to the position of deputy director of the National Institute of Music and Dance, who will head the Department of Music," says Katarzyna Meissner, director of the National Institute of Music and Dance. "From now on, under his supervision will develop such strategic musical activities of the Institute as the International Competition of Polish Music, the Oskar Kolberg Award 'For Merit to Folk Culture' or his own programmes, including Stage for Polish Music and Conductor-in-Residence."

The new director of the National Institute of Music and Dance has been trying to inspire a wide audience with his passion for music for many years. He is a pianist and manager. In 1984 he graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, where he studied the piano with Andrzej Stefański. He was a laureate of the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk, he performed in philharmonics in Poznań, Gdańsk, Wrocław and Jelenia Góra. He recorded, among others, for Polish Radio, TVP and Polskie Nagrania. Since 2019, he has been cooperating with the Institute on the Polish Music Management project. Earlier, he collaborated with the Warsaw Philharmonic as the head of the Promotion Department and with the Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic in Łódź in the role of promotion director, general and artistic director and deputy artistic director. He has created a number of activities and projects with many non-governmental organizations, including: Piąta Essencja Foundation, Concert Spirituels Foundation, Polish Culture Foundation, Polish Composers' Union, Foundation of the University of Warsaw. He is a co-author of traditional and multimedia publications devoted to Witold Lutosławski, Karol Szymanowski and Andrzej Panufnik. For many years he has been popularizing the oeuvre of Roman Palester – this year his monograph on this composer was published by PWM Edition. And it is precisely "for undertaking many publishing and concert initiatives that effectively bring Roman Palester's person and music back to musical life" that he received this year's Honorary Award of the Board of the Polish Composers' Union.