The UK premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Seven Gates of Jerusalem inspired a four-day festival of Polish culture held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. The Seven Gates: a Journey of Discovery festival (June 23-26) was filled with works by Polish composers from Szymanowski to Zubel and accompanied by film screenings and works inspired by Polish music. The Karol Szymanowski…Continue Reading 2015 in Review – Festivals
Boguslaw Kaczynski passed away in Warsaw on January 21. He was 73. Not only was he a journalist, music theorist, popularizer of opera and operetta, TV presenter, and author of many TV broadcasts, but Kaczynski was also the founder of the Jan Kiepura European Festival in Krynica and world-famous Music Festivals in Łańcut. Between 1994…Continue Reading Boguslaw Kaczynski Obituary
Contemporary Poland Under The Green Umbrella The Green Umbrella series featuring concerts of contemporary music is one of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s most attractive calling cards. John Adams, a distinguished composer and creative chair for the series, described the Green Umbrella Series as “… the longest running contemporary music series of any symphony orchestra in the country…Continue Reading Performances February 2016
2nd International Violin Festival The 2nd International Violin Festival, organized by the Toruń Symphony Orchestra, will begin on February 14 this year and will continue until the end of the month. Various concerts, recitals, exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, competitions, and workshops of prominent violinists will be held throughout the festival in Toruń. The opening concert will feature…Continue Reading Festivals – February 2016
Swiatkiewicz Receives Passport Award The 2015 “Passport” Awards were announced on January 12, 2016. This year’s nominees for the coveted award—given annually to scores of professionals by the weekly magazine Polityka since 1993—were the youngest batch in its over 20 year history. During the ceremony, held at the Grand Theatre of the Polish National Opera in Warsaw,…Continue Reading Awards – February 2016
Culture.pl, the website of Poland’s Adam Mickiewicz Institute, recently published an interesting article about the 8 most unusual instruments used in Polish folk music dating back to the 11th century: the ligawka, hurdy-gurdy, cart rattle, devil’s fiddle, suka, burczybas, pedal accordion, and vessel. In contrast to their unappealing names, these instruments emanate stunning sounds through simple mechanisms,…Continue Reading Unusual Polish Folk Instruments
Pianists of all nationalities born between 1984-2000 are invited to participate in the Paderewski International Piano Competition (Nov. 6-20, 2016) in Bydgoszcz, the most prestigious piano competition in Poland after the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. The Competition is organized by the Paderewski Music Association to commemorate Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a remarkable pianist, virtuoso, composer, politician and statesman….Continue Reading Paderewski International Competition Deadline
Outstanding Polish pianist and laureate Joanna Różewska will perform for the very first time in the US. The concert is organized by the Polish American Club of Greater Sacramento and will be held at the Club’s Community Hall on March 5. The program will consist solely of Chopin’s works, in celebration of what would be the composer’s 206th…Continue Reading Różewska US Debut in Sacramento Area
The Centre of Artistic Education at the Gorzów Philharmonic announces the 4th International Composers Competition. The idea of Competition is to promote artistic creation and to support composers’ individual approaches to contemporary music. The Competition aims to popularize the fascinating and rich world of sounds. The previous three editions (2013-2015) were addressed to young Polish composers…Continue Reading 4th International Composers Competition
Conducted by Charles Olivieri-Munroe, the Kraków Philharmonic will presents a concert featuring Russian trumpeter Sergei Nakariakov on February 12-13. Known as the “Paganini of the trumpet” after an exceptional performance at 13 years old, Nakariakov has traveled extensively to expand his range of classical literature for the trumpet. He has performed in many of the world’s leading centers of…Continue Reading Krakow Phil – Weinberg Trumpet Concerto