The XXVI “Gaude Mater” International Sacred Music Festival will take a place from April 30 – May 8, 2016. The event has been organized annually for 25 years in Częstochowa, and it musically represents the city and the region. The 2016 edition of the Festival is supported by Polish president, Andrzej Duda.
The 26th edition of the Festival program includes 16 concerts performed by notable artists from France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, and Italy. The 2016 theme of the Festival is liturgical form, such as a mass, passion, or vespers. Die Kölner Akademie, one of the most recognizable interpreters of baroque music in the world, opened this year’s festival on April 30 at the Jasna Góra Monastery, performing Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Polish Historical Orchestra (oh!).
This year, the Częstochowa Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir will close the event in dedication to the celebration of Poland’s 1050th Baptism anniversary. Other performers include: the National Ukrainian Choir “Dumka”; Russian-Jewish cantor, Baruch Finkelstein and German soprano, Simone Kermes; and the Berlin San Souci Orchestra. Two concerts organized to celebrate the 90th birthday of Juliusz Łuciuk will be held in Częstochowa and Nowa Brzeźnica—the composer’s’ birth city.
The program will also include the world premiere of Stanisław Fiałkowski’s Gregorian Jazz Mass, composed for the “Camerata Silesia” ensemble; Polish highland-style vespers, played by the Tatra Climate Orchestra; and Paweł Gusnar’s saxophone improvisations on the theme of a Gregorian Chant. Częstochowa is the center of the festival, however concerts will also take place in Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Warsaw, and the Benedictine Abbey in Braunweiler, near Cologne in Germany, as well as the following smaller cities: Radomsk, Nowa Brzeźnica, and Wrzosowa. The festival will also include Tadeusz Żaczek’s photography exhibition and the XII International Composition Competition with the prize-winners’ concert in Częstochowa and Brauweiler.
The “Gaude Mater” Festival plays an important role in developing intercultural dialogue by presenting differentiated visions of sacred music in European and non-European traditions, becoming a symbol of surpassing boundaries and fostering a true dialogue between cultures. The main organizer of the event is “Gaude Mater” Friends Society.
April 30 – May 8, 2016
XXVI “Gaude Mater” International Sacred Music Festival
Various venues in the Częstochowa region
Info: www.gaudemater.com
[Sources: polmic.pl, gaudemater.com]