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proMODERN Concert Cocktail (live on YouTube)

The proMODERN Contemporary Vocal Sextext has prepared a video surprise – an e-concert to watch on YouTube live on three different dates: 3 April 2020 at 9.00 p.m., 4 April at 12.00 p.m. and 5 April at 6.00 p.m.

During this special time proMODERN brings beautiful contemporary music to your screens and speakers. The e-concert is comprised of performance recordings made by the ensemble throughout the years since 2013. Rare, never seen before private footage, now available only on live stream. A journey through various marvellous pieces sung by the ensemble in many venues and with different singers! The concert will feature 13 singers: Łucja Szablewska-Borzykowska (soprano), Marta Czarkowska (soprano), Joanna Freszel (soprano), Katarzyna Bienias (soprano), Ewa Puchalska (mezzosoprano), Elżbieta Wróblewska (mezzosoprano), Ewelina Rzezińska (mezzosoprano), Anna Fijałkowska (mezzosoprano), Andrzej Marusiak (tenor), Aleksander Rewinski (tenor), Artur Janda (bas-baritone), Krzysztof Chalimoniuk (baritone), and Piotr Pieron (bas).

The ensmeble will perform beautiful works by contemporary composers: Miłosz Bembinow, Alicja Gronau, Aleksander Kościów, Bartosz Kowalski-Banasewicz, Paweł Łukaszewski, Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz, and Philip Lawson.

All you have to do is click on the following link on your computer, laptop, cell phone or tablet, or type in any web browser, also on SMART TV: https://youtu.be/UF0E70HP0GU. You can also find the proMODERN YouTube channel, where the video will be available on a given date.

More information at: https://www.facebook.com/promodern/

#NFMonline | Transcendence, noumenon, phenomenon

On 3 April 2020 at 7.00 p.m. the National Forum of Music together with the Lutosławski Quartet invites you to listen to the fragments of the latest, not yet released album of the ensemble recorded with the oboist Sebastian Aleksandrowicz.

According to Plato, Noumenon is the essence of things known only through reason. Immanuel Kant, in turn, described it as "a thing in itself" – a reality that exists regardless of consciousness. Kant's definition was an inspiration to Aleksander Kościów to compose Noumenon 2 for oboe and string quartet, which will be streamed online on 3 April. The latest album of Lutosławski Quartet includes works by Zbigniew Bargielski, Marcin Markowicz, Jan Duszyński and Aleksander Kościów.

The music will be supplemented with a short video material about working on the album (production: Łukasz Rajchert) and the artists' announcements (Maciej Młodawski, Sebastian Aleksandrowicz).

The recording will be broadcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nfmwroclaw/

The Minister of Culture and National Heritage signed a regulation on a new support programme for artists, creators and institutions

On 2 April 2020 the Minister of Culture and National Heritage signed a regulation on financial support for individuals, legal persons or entities without legal personality to change the form of disseminating creative or artistic activity during the period of epidemic emergency or epidemic status.

The regulation creates a new legal instrument that will enable the Minister of Culture and National Heritage to efficiently finance cultural activities in a changed form. The support will take the form of scholarships and grant programmes: funding will be granted for artistic projects implemented or made available primarily on the Internet. The scholarships are directed to individuals: artists, creators and culture animators. Legal persons and entities without legal personality will be able to apply for the earmarked subsidy.

The Anti-crisis Shield includes, among other, state support to cover 40% of employees' salary up to the amount of the average salary in the national economy, and a one-time payment of up to 80 % of the minimum salary for people running their own business and working on civil law contracts. Special solutions in the field of culture were also introduced.

More information at: https://bit.ly/2X5ZJRq

Large collection of Krzysztof Penderecki's music available for free at Ninateka.pl

A unique musical collection dedicated to the artistic output of Krzysztof Penderecki, which contains almost all the composer's works, is available on the Ninateka portal. Almost 150 works are accompanied by the artist's statements, opinions of critics and musicologists. Inidividual playlists of their favorite works were created by, among others, Elżbieta Penderecka, Marek Moś, Antoni Wit and Paweł Mykietyn.

The largest online collection of Krzysztof Penderecki's compositions is available at https://ninateka.pl/kolcje/trzej-kompozytorzy/penderecki. The website was created in over 70% on the basis of digitized archival materials of the Polish Radio. A collection curated by dr hab. Iwona Lindstedt is a synthetic guide to the composer's work.

The collection also contains a number of additional text, iconographic and film materials, presenting the information on Krzysztof Penderecki's life and work, e.g. the origins or circumstances of creation of a given composition, prepared by a team of experts – musicologists and music lovers. Among them is a timeline juxtaposing the composer's achievements against the backdrop of significant socio-cultural events of the 20th and 21st centuries, which were reflected in the music he composed, or the "alphabet" – a series of short journalistic forms, which present interesting facts related to the artist's work and private life.

Undoubtedly, the most attractive part of this extremely valuable collection includes performances conducted by the composer himself.

"100 for 100. Musical Decades of Freedom" – online premieres at the PWM YouTube channel

Thanks to the PWM Edition, you can #stayathome and watch online premieres of the concerts orginised as part of the "100 for 100. Musical decades of freedom". Each concert starts with the Fanfare for the Independent Poland by Krzysztof Penderecki.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of regaining Independence, PWM organized an event unprecedented in scale. As part of the "100 for 100. Musical decades of freedom" project, in addition to promotional, educational and publishing activities, on one day, 11 November 2018, 11 concerts were held at the most important music centres in Poland. Polish music since 1918 to 2018 was performed from the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, through the Karol Szymanowski Krakow Philharmonic, to the Grand Theater – National Opera. On the same day, the works of composers from the "100 for 100" list were performed in 11 cities in the world by top-class artists specializing in contemporary music, such as ICE International Contemporary Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Klangforum Wien or Ensemble Modern. A total of 100 works by Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries were performed on 11 November.

To meet the music lovers needs, PWM opens its archives and shares audio-video recordings of the selected concerts celebrating the 100th anniversary of Independence. The online premieres will take place every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. at the PWM YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/PWMEdition

More information at: http://stonasto.pl/wydarzenie/lista

Lublin Virtual Philharmonic

Quarantine can be used not only to plan future concerts, but also to remember past events organized by the Henryk Wieniawski Philharmonic in Lublin.

The action "#stayathome – art will come to you" met with great interest. More cultural institutions, not only run and co-run by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, but also by local governments, join in, while those that have already participated in the campaign are constantly expanding their offer. The Lublin Philharmonic has also prepared a rich offer for children, teenagers and parents, enabling contact with art via its internet channels.

The Lublin Philharmonic provides film materials, photos, trivia and, above all, concert recordings on all their social media accounts. The institution also presents its album recordings and profiles of the Lublin Philharmonic Orchestra musicians.

The materials are available at: http://www.filharmonialubelska.pl/ and https://www.facebook.com/filharmonia.lubelska/

#stayathome, let opera and ballet in!

Although the Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera remains closed, it invites you to visit the Opera Gallery. Of course, without leaving your home.

The virtual 3D tour allows you to move in place and time and visit five exhibitions that were presented during the last two seasons: Władysław Hasior, Rajmund Ziemski, Viva Moniuszko!, Zbigniew Makowski and Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Anatomy of Genius.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski was the most famous pianist of his time. He made excellent use of his extraordinary popularity and phenomenal contacts in the world of politics and finance by lobbying for the reconstruction of Poland. He later served as its first Prime Minister. As a French magazine puts it, Paderewski was a ‘double virtuoso’ – of the keyboard and of the rostrum. From the very beginning of his career he cultivated his image carefully. He had his photographs taken in the best ateliers of Warsaw, Vienna, and London. The media would marvel at his playing, paying special attention to the pianist’s expression and charisma. He appeared in commercials and gave thousands of autographs. What does it mean to ‘be a star’? According to the German musicologist Silke Borgstedt, it is not enough to compose and perform music. A star must be recognizable and awake sympathy, as well as consciously manage their image. They must be ubiquitous in the media, which not only portray, but also parody them.

At the Anatomy of Genius exhibition it will be possible to see how Paderewski’s fame originated and what allowed him to fight for Poland on the international arena so effectively. The exhibition presents the history of this great artist’s image – an artist who knew how to put his talent, intelligence and style to brilliant use. Original photos, newspapers and magazines, Paderewski’s personal items as well as numerous caricatures will allow us to trace the birth of a mass culture star, one of the first in history. A special place will be reserved for Manru, the only opera composed by Paderewski, and at the same time the only Polish opera to have been staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

The exhibition is availablte at: https://teatrwielki.pl/dzialalnosc/galeria-opera/wystawy-201819/ignacy-jan-paderewski-anatomia-geniuszu/

"Ignacy Jan and his plan" – a new PWM publication for children about Paderewski

On 2 April 2020 we will celebrate the International Children's Book Day. To honor this cheerful occasion, PWM Edition publishes another book about a great Polish composer.

Young music lovers have already had the opportunity to read about Stanisław Moniuszko, now it's time for Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The book was written by Katarzyna Huzar-Czub (a great poet and translator), and the illustrations were created by Zosia Dzierżawska. This beautifully illustrated booklet describes the life of Ignacy Jan Paderewski. We meet the composer as a child, when he decided to become a famous musician. You will ask – why? Not for fame, not for travel, not for money, but to implement a great plan – a plan to help Poland, which at that time was not on the world map.

Thanks to the verse form and colorful illustrations, children will make friends with Ignacy and learn that faith in their own abilities is a real treasure. Who was Ignacy? Someone who said, "When you want – you can."

More information at: https://pwm.com.pl/

Unikatowy polski zespół ACh Duo triumfuje w Chorwacji!

ACh Duo – polski zespół kameralny gitarowo-harfowy – 8 marca 2020 roku uzyskał III miejsce podczas 2nd International Guitar Competition „Ida Presti” w Samoborze na Chorwacji. Zespół otrzymał również nagrodę publiczności w postaci recitalu w Chorwacji w 2021 roku.

Duet tworzą gitarzysta Aleksander Pankowski vel Jankowski – absolwent Akademii Muzycznej im. K. Szymanowskiego w Katowicach – oraz harfistka Noemi Hańczyk, studentka Akademii Muzycznej im. K. Lipińskiego we Wrocławiu. Zespół rozpoczął swoją działalność w Szczecinie i został doceniony na wielu ogólnopolskich i międzynarodowych konkursach i festiwalach. W swoim repertuarze ma zarówno kompozycje oryginalnie napisane na duet gitarowo-harfowy przez takich kompozytorów, jak Aleksander Tansman czy Maximo Diego Pujol, jak i własne opracowania znanych utworów na ten skład.

Nietypowe zestawienie instrumentów i oryginalny repertuar stanowią o unikatowości duetu, który jest jedynym takim aktywnie działającym polskim zespołem.

Anna Wołowczyk

Więcej aktualności o działalności duetu na fanpage: https://facebook.com/AChDuo