Panufnik & Lutosławski: String Quartets Andrzej Panufnik: String Quartets Nos. 1-3 /Witold Lutosławski: String Quartet Tippett Quartet Naxos 8.573164 (August 2014) 2014 is the centenary year of Andrzej Panufnik and, while his orchestral music has received attention, his innovative string quartets remain neglected. Bittersweet harmonies characterise the First Quartet. The Second Quartet, whose subtitle ‘Messages’…Continue Reading New Panufnik Recordings
The Twelfth Summer Lieder Festival at Wilanów Palace featured a performance of Kolberg’s songs at an evening concert on July 5. The beautiful atmosphere of this formal royal residence on the outskirts of Warsaw provided a splendid background for the recital featuring songs by Chopin, Moniuszko, and Szymanowski in addition to a selection of songs…Continue Reading Kolberg In Song
Commissioned by the 2014 Presteigne Festival, the Requiem for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra (2013-2014) of Paweł Łukaszewski will be premiered on Sunday, August 24 at 7:45 p.m. in St Andrew’s Church in Presteigne, Wales, UK. The premiere will be performed by Rachel Nicholls (soprano), Christopher Foster (baritone), the Joyful Company of Singers and…Continue Reading Łukaszewski World Premiere
Traditional Scottish songs performed by Poles will resound throughout the interiors of Edinburgh’s medieval churches during evenings this summer. The Polish Song of the Goat Theatre ensemble returns to Scotland following their great success presenting Songs of Lear in 2012. Their new project is entitled Return to the Voice, and it features a guest appearance…Continue Reading Poles In Edinburgh
Established by Poland’s Adam Mickiewicz Institute in 2011, the I, CULTURE Orchestra (ICO) is an ensemble of outstanding young musicians from Poland and the Eastern Partnership member states – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Members audition and are chosen anew each season, and this year’s ensemble of 111 artists was announced in April…Continue Reading I, Culture Orchestra 2014
The Adam Mickiewicz Institute has recently published “A Foreigner’s Guide to Polish Jazz.” In this ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ style article, readers are given many ways to digest the complex and glorious history (and present) of jazz in Poland. The article was adapted from Cezary Lerski’s article “Polish Jazz – Freedom at last” by Wojciech Oleksiak, who provided…Continue Reading Foreigner’s Guide To Polish Jazz
From the Boosey & Hawkes website: The lost score of Benjamin Britten’s orchestration of Les Sylphides was recently rediscovered and revived by American Ballet Theater, and is now available on hire from Boosey & Hawkes for other ballet companies. Michel Fokine’s classic one-act ballet, with its orchestrations of music by Chopin, dates back to 1908…Continue Reading Dancing To Chopin (By Way Of Britten)
Two Polish musicians taught and performed at the 16th edition of the International Keyboard Institute & Festival hosted by the New School for Music at Mannes College in New York City: Grzegorz Niemczuk and Magdalena Baczewska. Thursday, July 17: 6:00pm Prestige Series Concert: Magdalena Baczewska Friday, July 18: 3:00pm Master Class – Goldmark Hall –…Continue Reading Poles at IKIF in NY
On August 17, an “Organ Concert of Three Polonaises” featuring organist Agnieszka Rybak will be held in commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Rising at Our Lady of the Bright Mount Church in Los Angeles. Program: M.K. Ogiński – Polonez a-moll „Pożegnanie Ojczyzny”; H. Purcell – Trumpet Tune; L. Boellmann – Suita Gotycka…Continue Reading ‘Three Polonaises’ In L.A.
Laureates of the 1st International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition—held as part of the Summer Jazz Festival in “Piwnica pod Baranami” on July 16-19 in Kraków, Poland—are as follows: 1st prize (10.000 EURO): Bartosz Dworak (Poland) (pictured at right) 2nd prize (5.000 EURO): Apel-les Carod Requesens (Spain) 3rd prize (ex-aequo, 2.000 EURO each): Dawid Lubowicz…Continue Reading Seifert Jazz Violin Competition