Poland Well Represented at ICMA 2018

For the 2018 International Classical Music Awards, the ICMA Jury has once more selected musicians and organizations that have distinguished themselves through outstanding achievements. The independent and international jury has also chosen their favorites from 357 nominated audio and video releases. The list of all the winners is available in the section ‘Winners’ of our website.

The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) will host the ICMA Award Ceremony and the Gala Concert on April 6, 2018 in Katowice, conducted by Alexander Liebreich. Given this collaboration, the ICMA Jury paid special attention to Polish musical life, and in particular awarded an Outstanding Young Polish Artist Award to pianist Szymon Nehring. Other Poles who were laureates this year:

For a full list of the 2018 winner, visit www.icma-info.com/winners-2018.

[Source: icma-info.com]


Blank Pages of Music 2017

The commission for the ‘Blank Pages of Music’ Program met on October 30, 2017, at the Institute of Music and Dance (IMiT) headquarters in Warsaw to select the best projects to be carried out in the seventh edition of this IMiT program. The commission was composed of experts recommended by the following institutions: the Musicologists’ Section of the Union of Polish Composers [Związek Kompozytorów Polskich] – Prof. Agnieszka Draus; the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences [Polska Akademia Nauk] – Dr Jacek Jackowski; the Open Forum of the Dance Community – Aleksandra Bilińska-Słomkowska; and a representative of IMiT – Brygida Błaszczyk-Podhajska.

‘Blank Pages of Music’ is dedicated to supporting Polish and foreign scholars who plan to conduct their professional research in neglected and lesser-known areas of Polish music and dance. The priority set for the 2017/18 edition is to document the musical life in Poland after the country’s partitions and before its reunification and independence.

Amongst the 30 applications submitted for the financial support, the commission has selected the following research projects:

  • “Jewish culture within the popular musical culture of Lwów during the inter-war period” – Michał Jaczyński
  • “Military brass bands on Polish soil at the time of Poland’s occupation after partitions” – Maciej Kierzkowski
  • “Forgotten Polish conductors (1800-1918) – musicological sketches” – Michał Klubiński
  • “Ballet works by Eugeniusz Morawski” – Oskar Łapeta
  • “Research and description of aesthetic foundations in the free/spontaneous improvised music in Poland” – Rafał Mazur
  • “Morceau de concert by Maurycy Karasowski – critical source edition of the score and reconstruction of orchestral parts” – Mateusz Melski
  • “Artistic values and performance problems in the works by young Polish composers in the opinion of the performers versus their psychological profile and musical preferences” – Anna Antonina Nogaj
  • “Association of Folk Musicians in Zbąszyń – history, folklore activities, foremost members and musicians” – Karolina Anna Pawłowska
  • “Polish dance literature concerning history, anthropology, education, criticism (…). Compiling a bibliographic catalogue of the art of dancing and choreography 1967-2017 (…)” – Aleksandra Kleinrok, Zuzanna Kupidura, Hanna Raszewska-Kursa
  • “Traditional folk songs from Opolskie Voivodeship in the light of contemporary recordings of singers and folk ensembles” – Iwona Wylęgała

The commission justified its selection by providing the following set of observations regarding the best projects:

  • They definitely deal with obscure or neglected areas of knowledge concerning the broadly conceived Polish musical culture and Polish dance, including research on the documentation of Polish musical life during the time of Poland’s occupation after the partitions
  • The research focuses on the phenomena in the contemporary culture of music and dance that thus far have not been described or have been insufficiently described, or else follows up on the worthwhile previous research
  • They document, compile and interpret sources which are not readily available or are dispersed, obscure or else insufficiently researched.

These research proposals are well planned and promise to bear measurable results, which have been specified in the applications to be achieved in a given time. The applicants whose projects have been chosen to benefit from financial support possess—in the opinion of the commission—the sufficient expertise, skills and experience to carry out the research in the chosen field and to achieve the set goals.

[Source: imit.org.pl]


Success for Penderecki in Brazil

The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Polish composer/conductor Krzysztof Penderecki and German violinist Isabelle Faust have received a prize for “Best Orchestral Concert 2017” from the Brazilian Concert magazine. Held on September 14-16, 2017, the concert at the Sala São Paulo was performed under the baton of Krzysztof Penderecki and featured his Hymn to St. Daniil and Symphony No. 4 as well as Karol Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with soloist Isabelle Faust.

[Source: beethoven.org.pl]