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The Avant-garde Whispered in One’s Ear

Percussionist Hubert Zemler will give a performance on January 27, 2017 at the National Audiovisual Institute in Warsaw.

The artist is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music who gained his professional experience both as a member of symphony orchestra and ensembles performing alternative and improvised music. On Friday evening, he will present the repertoire recorded on his recently released second solo album Pupation of Dissonance, which covers various styles of percussion music.

The concert will open a new concert cycle Awangarda na Ucho (The Avant-garde Whispered in One’s Ear) which is organized in 2017 by the National Audiovisual Institute on the occasion of 100 Years of the Avant-garde in Poland. It will feature several presentations of minimal, conceptual and electroacoustic music, as well as graphic scores, influences of the avant-garde in jazz and electronic music, and oriental-inspired compositions (ranging from Karol Szymanowski to Steve Reich and Terry Riley).

Admission free.

More information: Facebook event

"Controlled Festival" – 4th edition

2017 edition of the "Controlled Festival", organized by the Oskar Kolberg Music School Complex in Radom, "Harmonies and Noises" Foundation and the Music Society in Radom, will be held on January 24-26.

The Festival, aimed at promoting contemporary music among young members of the audience, unites students of music schools and professional musicians in contemporary music concerts and workshops. Its 4th edition will be devoted to performances presenting new interactive composition/installation Windwaves by Marek Chołoniewski, which combines the elements of improvisation, graphic scores, visual effects and electronic sounds.

The premiere performance will be held on January 24, 2017 in Radom, and will be followed by performances in Kielce (January 25) and Krakow (January 26).

Performers: Symphony Orchestra of the Oskar Kolberg Music School Complex in Radom under the baton of Przemysław Zych.

The concerts are co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage ("Composing Commissions" programme, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance).

Admission free.

More information: programme

„Filharmonia ostrożnie wciąga!!!”: Koncert symfoniczny w Filharmonii Lubelskiej

27 stycznia 2017 roku o godz. 19.00 w Filharmonii Lubelskiej będzie miał miejsce Koncert symfoniczny w ramach programu „Filharmonia ostrożnie wciąga!!!”, organizowanym przez Instytut Muzyki i Tańca ze środków MKiDN.

Wieczór rozpocznie się od najsłynniejszego poloneza Michała Kleofasa Ogińskiego Pożegnanie Ojczyzny w nowym opracowaniu Zygmunta Rycherta.

Następnie w wykonaniu Orkiestry Symfonicznej Filharmonii Lubelskiej pod dyrekcją Rycherta zabrzmią dzieła trzech reprezentantów muzyki francuskiej. Najmłodszy z nich Emmanuel Sejourne jest twórcą doskonale znanym wielbicielom perkusyjnych brzmień. Jako czynny muzyk, Sejourne w pełni wykorzystuje wirtuozowski potencjał melodycznych instrumentów perkusyjnych, łącząc w swej twórczości klasykę, rock i jazz. W takim też stylu utrzymany jest prezentowany przez solistkę Ilonę Drozd Koncert na marimbę i smyczki, który jest jednym z nielicznych utworów przedstawiającym marimbę w romantycznym świetle, z jej ekspresyjnymi możliwościami i zdolnością brzemienia jak fortepian.

Kolejna pozycja programu, choć francuska, korzeniami głęboko tkwią w stylistyce Półwyspu Iberyjskiego. Najbardziej znany utwór Emmanuela Chabriera España to orkiestrowa rapsodia, dedykowana dyrygentowi Charlesowi Lamoureux, w pełni realizuje tytułową zapowiedź i korzystając z autentycznych, hiszpańskich motywów w znakomity sposób oddaje klimat i gorący temperament mieszkańców południa Europy.

W twórczości Ravela formę walca spotykamy kilkakrotnie, jej ukoronowaniem są jednak dwa arcydzieła: Walce szlachetne i sentymentalne oraz poemat choreograficzny La Valse. Skomponowany na zamówienie Siergieja Diagilewa stanowić miał muzyczne tło do baletu na temat Wiednia. George Benjamin analizując dzieło tak je podsumowywał: „Nieważne jaka była intencja, jest to metafora dylematu przed jakim stanęła europejska cywilizacja, jako pokłosie Wielkiej Wojny; to jednoczęściowy plan fabuły narodzin, rozpadu i zniszczenia w formie muzycznej: walca".

Szczegółowe informacje – na stronie: http://filharmonialubelska.pl

Alice in Wonderland

Opera at the Castle in Szczecin will stage a ballet performance for children Alice in Wonderland on January 27-29, 2017 with music by Przemysław Zych and choreography by Jacek Tyski.

A story of Alice who fell though a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar creatures is familiar to every child. It is an inspiring tale on the eternal fight between good and evil that stimulates one’s imagination. The production combines elements of dance, music composed with the use of contemporary means and instruments, unusual costumes and scenography. The authors drew inspirations from the books Alice in Wonderland and Though the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, as well as the film directed by Tim Burton.

The work had its premiere in 2015 and was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage ("Composing Commissions" programme, implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance).

Tickets available on-line at: www.opera.szczecin.pl

Days of New Music 2017

7th edition of the "Days of New Music" Festival will be held between January 18 and 22, 2017 in Gdańsk.

Since its very beginning, the festival focuses on presenting unconventional music. Aimed at remaining open to all kinds of experimental, contemporary and avant-garde art, it puts special attention to new music defined as a genre that constantly looks for new forms, content, and ways to combine various contradictory styles.

This year, the programme has been based on 2 ideas - exploring aspects of collective collaboration vs. individual compositional process, and presentation of music by avant-garde artists. As much as exposing the complexity of contemporary music scene is important to the event organizers, a special importance is attached to those artistic initiatives which may interest the listeners who are not particularly familiar with contemporary music trends. The line-up includes projects made by Artur Zagajewski, Olga Wojciechowska and others.

Tickets available on-line at: www.klubzak.com.pl

Musicological Conference: "Creators - Sources - Archives"

Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw will be a host of the 1st Musicological Conference "Creators - Sources - Archives", organized as part of the cycle Polish Music Abroad on January 25-26, 2017.

A cycle of conferences held under the title Polish Music Abroad is devoted to Polish musicians who live(d) abroad and whose output is kept in foreign libraries and archives.

The January conference will bring an opportunity to discuss various opinions and present research conducted by the leading Polish scholars who represent such institutions as the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw University, Jagiellonian University, Academy of Music in Wrocław, Bydgoszcz and Gdańsk, National Library, PWM Edition and Archivum Helveto-Polonicum in Freiburg.

The conference participants will examine the output of such Polish composers as Andrzej Panufnik, Aleksander Tansman, Roman Palester, Mieczysław Weinberg, Roman Statkowski, Karol Rathaus, Zbigniew Bargielski, Konstanty Regamey, Witold Szalonek and Wanda Landowska.

More information: programme

Film Music on Grandparents’ Day

A special symphonic concert on the occasion of Grandparents’ Day will be held on January 20, 2017 at 6.00 pm at the Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk.

Performers:

Ewa Prus, Łukasz Talik - soloists

Sławomir Chrzanowski - conductor

Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra

Krzysztof Dąbrowski - concert introduction

The artists will present film music from such motion pictures as The Rain Song, Les Misérables, Evita, The Magnificent Seven, composed by Eduard Bernstein, Victor Young, Andres Lloyd Webber, Barry Manilow, Richard Rodgers, John Kander, Wojciech Kilar, Krzesimir Dębski, Henry Mancini, and others.

Admission is free, however booking free tickets at the Philharmonic’s box office (January 18-20) is required.

The concert is co-financed by the City of Gdańsk.

Witold Lutosławski Festival "Chain XIV"

14th edition of the Witold Lutosławski Festival "Chain" will be held between January 28 and February 12, 2017 at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw.

The programme includes compositions by Witold Lutosławski, Karol Szymanowski, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Anton Webern, Gabriel Fauré and Alexander Zemlinsky, interpreted by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, joined by the Krakow Philharmonic Choir, Iwona Sobotka and Andrzej Lampert conducted by Alexander Liebreich, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra with Giedrė Šiaulytė (harp) and Maksymilian Lipień (oboe) under Mare Moś, Silesian Quartet, Chain Ensemble directed by Andrzej Bauer, Joanna Freszel (soprano), Magdalena Bojanowicz (cello), Ravel Piano Duo, Bartosz Koziak (cello) and Sinfonia Varsovia Orchstra with Olga Pasiecznik under Renato Rivolta.

Tickets available on-line at www.sklep.polskieradio.pl and at the venue’s box office.

More information: www.lutoslawski.org.pl

Mania. The History of a Cigarette Factory Worker

State Music School Complex in Elbląg will host a special concert entitled Mania. The History of a Cigarette Factory Worker on January 26, 2017.

Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, joined by solists (Jan Krzeszowiec- flute, Jarosław Posiadlik - clarinet and Anna Rutkowska-Schock - piano) under the baton of Jerzy Maksymiuk will give a live-to-picture performance and perform musical score alongside a screening of a film Mania. The History of a Cigarette Factory Worker. A German silent movie with the legendary actress Pola Negri produced in 1918, which for many years was considered lost, underwent a reconstruction process after its only copy was found in 2006 in Czech Republic and bought from its collector by Polish National Film Archive. Re-premiered in 2011 in Warsaw, it gained an original score composed by Jerzy Maksymiuk.

The film tells a story of a great love of Mania, a cigarette factory worker, to a talented composer Hans. The heroin’s beauty incite passion in an art patron Morelli, who wants to make her his mistress and in return he promises to put Hans’ new opera on stage. Faced with a difficult choice, Mania decides to help her loved one make his dream come true, which leads to a tragic end.