Organized by the Warsaw branch of the Polish Composers’ Union (ZKP), the 29th edition of the Warszawskie Spotkania Muzyczne [Warsaw Music Encounters] will be held from May 9-15, 2015. WSM is one of the most important festivals of early and new music, but also the first and the only one that has made it a principle to combine these two on a regular basis. Thanks to this principle, the Festival provides an opportunity for many early music enthusiasts to get acquainted with contemporary works and discover that they “don’t bite” after all. The position in the Festival is also confirmed by the ever-growing interest of Polish and foreign musicians who submit their program offers. For many years now, the Festival has featured excellent performers and exciting repertoire, “gaining momentum” with every new Festival year and meeting the tastes of a growing number of listeners.
Below is an outline of the works that will receive their world premieres at this year’s Festival—for a full listing of the program, visit www.wsm.art.pl. All concerts are presented free of admission.
On Saturday May, 9, 2015 in the Witold Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio, the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra with Leszek Lorent – percussion, Karol Radziwonowicz – piano and Krzysztof Słowiński – conductor will present the world premieres of:
- Bartosz Kowalski: Action Stories for symphony orchestra (2015)*
- Sławomir Czarnecki: Symphony Concertante „Baltic” for piano and orchestra (2015)*
- Maciej Zieliński: Sonore for symphony orchestra (2014) **
- Ignacy Zalewski: Symphony concertante for multipercussion and symphony orchestra (2015)**
On May 13 in the Witold Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio, the Amadeus Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra with Agnieszka Duczmal – conductor and soloists Lech Bałaban – viola and Klaudiusz Baran – bandoneon will present the world premieres of:
- Grzegorz Duchnowski: Little Music Concertante for chamber string orchestra (2015)**
- Edward Sielicki: Memorabilia – Fantasia Concertante for bandoneon and string orchestra (2015)**
- Piotr Moss: Récit IV for viola and strings (2012)*
On May 15 in the Great Assembly Hall of the Royal Castle, vocal sextet proMODERN will present the world premieres of:
Miłosz Bembinow: ShakeSpired for vocal sextet (2015)**- Andrzej Borzym jr: 4 Sonnets by William Shakespeare for vocal sextet (2015)**
- Krzesimir Dębski: Music to Sonnets# 1 & 2 by William Shakespeare (2015)*
Krzysztof Herdzin: Three Sonnets by Shakespeare (2015)*- Anna Ignatowicz-Glińska: Sonnet 116 for vocal sextet to the words by William Shakespeare (2015)**
Paweł Łukaszewski: Shakespeare’s Sonnet Weary with toil, I haste to my bed (Sonnet XXVII) (2015)*
Stanisław Moryto: Three Sonnets by William Shakespeare for vocal sextet (2015)*- Tomasz Jakub Opałka: …lips to kiss… for vocal sextet (2015)*
- Piotr Tabakiernik: ἀπόπτωσις (apoptōsis) for vocal sextet (2015)**
* first performance
** first performance – co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Republic of Poland (MKiDN) within the program “Collections” [Kolekcje], spotlighting “Commissioned Compositions” [Zamówienia kompozytorskie] as implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance (IMiT)
May 9-15, 2015
Warszawskie Spotkania Muzyczne
Various venues around Warsaw, Poland
[Sources: wsm.art.pl, bembinow.com]