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Inauguration of the 40th artistic season of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra

The inauguration of the 40th artistic season of the Toruń Sympony Orchestra will take place on Friday, 14th September 2018, at 7.00 pm in the Concert Hall in CKK Jordanki.

An inauguration is, first and foremost, the promise of what awaits us in the events preceeded by this inauguration. Each and every inauguration has a ceremonial and sublime profile of a magic moment expected and longed for by everyone. In the case of commencing the fourtieth artistic season of the Toruń Symphonic Orchestra, the profile of the celebration will be particularly sublime, which has been emphasised by organisers in their choice of a programme, and by inviting a talented pianist to collaborate.

The concert will begin with the overture to Stanisław Moniuszko's opera Halka. After the introduction to the story, there must come time for its development. In case of the concert 'development' , Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.17 by Ignacy Jan Padarewski will be presented to the audience. To perform it, the Toruń Symphonic Orchestra invited a special guest, the talented Marian Sobula. In the course of this concert, the music overfilled by cordiality, poetic romantic mood and great passion, which reaches a triumphant climax and domination in the final, will be heard. The most popular piano concert performed by the laureate boasting the greatest international piano competition awards will certainly constitute an unforgettable experience for each and every music lover. After the purifying and solemn development, the time will come a grand final. The end of this year's inauguration of the season will be constituted by the Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 by Ludwig van Beethoven

The concert will take place under the patronage of the Polish Music Publishers as part of the TUTTI.pl project promoting performances of Polish music.

More information at: http://www.tos.art.pl

Poznań | Concert to Mark 1050th Anniversary of Establishment of Poland’s First Diocese

On September 14th, 2018 the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań will host a concert to mark 1050th anniversary of establishment of Poland’s first diocese.

The reason for organizing this concert is the plenary meeting of the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences from European countries held in Poznań, hosted by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, President of the Polish Episcopate Conference.

In the first part of the evening, the overture to the opera by Karol Kurpiński, Jadwiga, the queen of Poland, and then Fantasia on Polish themes by Fryderyk Chopin will be performed. In the second part, we will hear two moving vocal-instrumental compositions by Wojciech Kilar. Angelus (1984), considered by the composer the most important of his religious works, was dedicated to his wife. It is a kind of apotheosis of the rosary prayer. Victoria for mixed choir and orchestra was written by Kilar to celebrate the second pilgrimage of John Paul II to Poland in 1983. As a text, the composer used the famous fragment of the letter of Jan III Sobieski, written after the battle of Vienna: "Venimus, vidimus, Deus vicit!"

Together with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, pianist Joanna Marcinkowska, soprano Ilona Krzywicka, and the Boys' and Men's Choir of the Poznań Philharmonic "Poznań Nightingales" will perform. The whole concert will be conducted by Rafał Jacek Delekta.

More information at: http://www.filharmoniapoznanska.pl/

Inauguration of the 2018/2019 season of the Wieniawski Philharmonic in Lublin

On September 14, 2018 at 7:00 p.m., the Lublin Philharmonic will inaugurate its 2018/2019 artistic season. The Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Wojciech Rodek will perform the works of Antonín Dvořák, Ludwig van Beethoven and Agata Zubel.

The programme of the inaugural concert combines nineteenth-century symphonic literature with the latest achievements of contemporary Polish music. As one of the first European symphony orchestras, the symphony orchestra of the Lublin Philharmonic will perform the newly created Fireworks (2018) by Agata Zubel. The work of Polish composer, singer and music educator received the European Composers' Award at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin. It was commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence.

The concert will also feature Cello concerto in B minor, Op. 104 (B. 191) by Antonín Dvořák, with Tomasz Strahl as soloist, and Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 "Eroica" by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Information on tickets at: http://filharmonialubelska.pl

Dąbrowa Górnicza | Inaugural Concert of the 12th Michał Spisak International Music Competition

On 14 September 2018, on the birthday of the most famous composer from Dąbrowa Górnicza, the patron of the competition, there will be a concert that inaugurates the 12th Michał Spisak International Music Competition.

At 6:00 pm on the large stage of the Zagłębie Palace of Culture will perform the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra named after under the baton of Massimiliano Caldi. The orchestra will play together with the invited soloists: dr hab. Zoltán Kovács (clarinet) and laureates of last year’s competition – Roksana Kwaśnikowska (violin) and Gabriel Pidoux (oboe). The concert will be hosted by Violetta Rotter-Kozera.

The pogramme of the inaugural evening will include: Michał Spisak – Toccata for Orchestra and Concertino for clarinet and orchestra, Karol Szymanowski – Violin Concerto No. 1 op. 35, Maurice Ravel – Pavane pour une Infante défunte, Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Introduction, theme and variations for oboe and orchestra, Piotr Czajkowski – Capriccio Italien. Admission free.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information at: www.spisakkonkurs.pl

Hamburg | Specjalny polski koncert

Z udziałem wiceminister kultury Wandy Zwinogrodzkiej 10 września w Elbphilharmonie w Hamburgu odbył się koncert inaugurujący specjalny "Polski Program w Elbphilharmonie".

Na scenie wystąpił uznany pianista Szymon Nehring oraz Narodowa Orkiestra Symfoniczna Polskiego Radia pod batutą Alexandra Liebreicha. W związku z obchodzoną w tym roku 100. rocznicą odzyskania przez Polskę niepodległości, na scenie hamburskiej filharmonii w ciągu trzech miesięcy uznani polscy soliści, orkiestry i kompozytorzy zaprezentują różne oblicza polskiej muzyki.

Podczas koncertu inauguracyjnego w Elbphilharmonie hamburska publiczność usłyszała Koncert fortepianowy a-moll op.17 Ignacego Jana Paderewskiego, Koncert na orkiestrę Witolda Lutosławskiego oraz utwór Przebudzenie Jakuba Krzysztofa Pendereckiego i Kołysankę Andrzeja Panufnika. Współorganizatorem wydarzenia jest Instytut Adama Mickiewicza. Dzień wcześniej artyści wystąpili w Kopenhadze w centrum koncertowym duńskiego radia - DR Koncerthuset. Kopenhaska publiczność wysłuchała Koncertu fortepianowego e-moll op.11 nr 1 Fryderyka Chopina, Koncertu na orkiestrę Witolda Lutosławskiego oraz Suitę nr 1 Peer Gynt op.46 Edwarda Griega.

Źrodło: materiały prasowe

Gdańsk | Autumn edition of the 4th ORGANy PLUS+ Festival

The Autumn edition of the 2018 ORGANy PLUS+ Festival will take place in the Franciscan Holy Trinity church in Gdańsk between September 27 and October 7. This year's edition will celebrate the 400th jubilee of Marten Friese's organ installed at the church.

This year, seventy years after the end of World War II and following fifteen years of persistent efforts and ten years of hard restoration and organ-building works we will have the first occasion to admire the full sound power of the instrument rebuilt at the Franciscan Holy Trinity church in the Old Suburb of Gdańsk to the full. Coincidently, the year 2018 also marks 400 years since this unique instrument was built. The already fourth edition of the ORGANy PLUS+ festival will be an occasion to celebrate and listen to exquisite music played from the musical rood loft, the only one in Poland, reverberating in the Gothic interior untouched for 500 years, its acoustics unattainable anywhere else.

The concerts are also an attempt to revive the specific musical tradition and reality of the old Gdańsk. On Monday, October 1, Ensemble Hildebrandt 1719 conducted by an exquisite organ player of the young generation Krzysztof Urbaniak will present Polish liturgical music of the second half of the seventeenth century under the common title: ‘Between Warsaw and Gdańsk’. We will hear works by Merulo, Różycki, Szarzyński, Siefert, and Neunhaber. The final concert, on Sunday, October 7, will feature Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett and Schola Cantorum of the Chair of Church Music of the Academy of Music in Gdańsk who will perform liturgical works from the Jan from Lublin Tablature.

And should anyone wish to broaden his/her knowledge and perfect the skills, he/she will have an opportunity to do so during the International Organological Conference "Musica Sacra – Ars Organisandi" and the workshops devoted to playing the organ and the carillon, improvisation, and Gregorian chant.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Full programme available at: www.organyplus.com

Bratysława | Koncert z okazji 100-lecia odzyskania Niepodległości

Kolejny koncert wpisujący się w obchody 100-lecia odzyskania niepodległości przez Polskę odbędzie się 27 września 2018 roku w studiu koncertowym Radia Słowackiego w Bratysławie. Wystąpi Słowacka Orkiestra Kameralna Bohdana Warchala pod dyrekcją Ewalda Danela.

Podczas wieczoru zabrzmią orkiestrowe opracowania Menueta G dur nr 1 z cyklu Humoresques de Concert op. 14 (1885-1887) Ignacego Jana Paderewskiego oraz Etiudy b-moll op. 4 nr 3 (1903-1904) Karola Szymanowskiego. Jak zaznacza Mieczysław Kominek, Prezes Związku Kompozytorów Polskich: "Obecność tych utworów w programie należy potraktować symbolicznie. Bez Paderewskiego i Szymanowskiego muzyka polska pierwszych dekad XX wieku byłaby zupełnie inna, ale obaj kompozytorzy reprezentowali różne epoki: Paderewski tworzył muzykę wzmacniającą tożsamość narodu bez własnego państwa, ambicją Szymanowskiego było budowanie europejskiej tożsamości Polaków, ale z pełnym szacunkiem dla tradycji. Paderewski zamknięty jest w narodowej tradycji i symbolizuje w muzyce kończący się okres polskiej niewoli. Szymanowski otwiera nową epokę i jest heroldem modernizmu, który rozkwitnie w latach sześćdziesiątych XX wieku takimi nazwiskami, jak Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki i Wojciech Kilar".

W programie koncertu znajdą się ponadto utwory współczesnych kompozytorów polskich: Orawa Wojciecha Kilara, Aus aller Welt stammende Zygmunta Krauze oraz When the Morning Light Starts Glowing Hanny Kulenty. Wykonane zostaną także Pieśni z Zaolzia urodzonego w Cieszynie, a mieszkającego obecnie w Bratysławie Romana Bergera, symbolicznie łączącego Polskę i Słowację.

Organizatorami koncertu są Związek Kompozytorów Polskich, Polskie Centrum Informacji Muzycznej POLMIC, Instytut Polski w Bratysławie oraz Waves Bratislava o.z. Przedsięwzięcie sfinansowano ze środków MKiDN w ramach Programu Wieloletniego NIEPODLEGŁA na lata 2017-2021, w ramach programu dotacyjnego Instytutu Adama Mickiewicza „Kulturalne pomosty”.

Patronat medialny nad wydarzeniem objęło Polskie Centrum Informacji Muzycznej POLMIC.

Dodatkowe informacje – na stronie: www.sosr.rtvs.sk/rozhlas

Więcej na temat wydarzeń związanych z polską kulturą na całym świecie: www.culture.pl

56th Bydgoszcz Music Festival

The 56th Bydgoszcz Music Festival will last from September 14 to October 5, 2018. This year's event will be held under the slogan "Contrasts – Independent", celebrating the 100th anniversary of regaining independence.

During 11 concerts, the festival audience will listen to works by Polish composers: G.G. Gorczycki, Moniuszko, Karłowicz, Szymanowski, Lutosławski, Kilar, Górecki, Penderecki, and Ignacy Jan Paderewski – an outstanding pianist, composer and statesman, patron of the Pomeranian Philharmonic.

The festival will feature the outstanding, internationally renowned ensembles: the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Choir, the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, the Polish Chamber Choir Schola Cantorum Gedanensis, the Berlin Piano Trio, and solists: Rafał Blechacz, Leszek Możdżer, Iwona Hossa, Jarosław Bręk, Jakub Jakowicz, Bomsori Kim, Tomasz Kuk, Joanna Freszel, Jan Jakub Monowid, Sylwester Smulczyński, Ingolf Wunder and Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha. The Pomeranian Philharmonic Orchestras will be conducted by Marek Pijarowski, Kai Bumann, Jan Łukaszewski, and Łukasz Borowicz.

Full programme available at: http://www.filharmonia.bydgoszcz.pl

Olsztyn | Inauguration of the 73rd artistic season of the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic

Ceremonial inauguration of the 73rd artistic season of the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic will be held on September 14, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.. The concert will feature Piano Concerto by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Poland regaining its independence.

Paderewski was not only a piano virtuoso or a talented composer, but also a great patriot, statesman and prime minister of the Polish government, called the Father of Polish Independence. His Piano concert in A minor, Op. 17 was completed in the summer of 1888 in Paris. Paderewski dedicated this concert to Professor Teodor Leszetycki with whom he studied piano at the conservatory in Vienna. The first performance was made by Russian pianist Anetta Jessipowa, Leszetycki's wife. It took place on January 20, 1889 in Vienna under the baton of Hans Richter.

During the inaugural concert in Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic we will hear this work in the interpretation of Łukasz Krupiński alongside the Symphony Orchestra of the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic under the direction of Piotr Sułkowski. The second part of the evening will feature the symphonic poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 by Richard Strauss.

More information at: https://filharmonia.olsztyn.pl