From April 23-30, numerous world premieres were presented in Kraków during the 29th International Festival of Kraków Composers (formerly known as Days of Music by Kraków Composers). The annual Festival aims to promote and present contemporary works by Kraków composers of all ages, through concerts, meetings with composers, and lectures by music theorists of the Academy of Music in Kraków and musicologists of the Jagiellonian University. The artistic director of the festival, Marcel Chyrzyński, described the main concept of the29th edition as follows:
The present time in music is multidimensional, often difficult to define, diverse, but it gives the artist freedom of his choice of sonic worlds that he needs to create a composition. During the act of producing the musical reality, the origin of inspiration often determines the idea of a work. This is why this year I would like to pay attention to this aspect — the origin of inspiration in the context of understanding and emotional experience of musical compositions.
This year’s festival specifically incorporated compositions from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark, created in relation to the musical tradition of neighboring countries, countries of the European Union and music of the world. The featured guest for 2017 was composer Kaija Saariaho (Finland/France).
Below is a listing of the world premieres that took place during the Festival:
Saturday, April 23, 2017, 6:00 pm, Karol Szymanowski Kraków Philharmonic
- Michał Pawełek: Simeia for chamber orchestra and electronics (2016/17)
Monday, April 24, 2017, 7:00 pm, Kraków Academy of Music – Florianka Hall
- Kaija Saariaho: Concordia for violin and cello – 1st movement (2017)
- Jarosław Płonka: Rust / Rdza for violin and viola (2017 – commissioned by 29th IFKC)
Wednesday, April 26, 2017, 7:00 pm, Kraków Academy of Music – Florianka Hall
- Michał Gronowicz: Subtilia II for flute, clarinet, French horn, trumpet, violin, viola, cello and piano (2016)
- Grzegorz Majka: Noc duszy for flute, French horn and string trio (2016)
- Juliusz Łuciuk: Three Lyrics for mezzo-soprano and piano (2017) to the words by Tadeusz Szyma
- Józef Rychlik: Octet for flute, clarinet, French horn, trumpet, violin, viola, cello and piano (2017 – commissioned by the Festival and subsidized by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as a part of the “Composing Commissions” program, operated by the Institute of Music and Dance)
Thursday, April 27, 2017, 7:00 pm, Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art
- Paulina Łuciuk: Cancion tonta for tape (2017) – 4-channel version
- Franciszek Araszkiewicz: Explorations for brainwaves network (2017)
- Eduardo Frigatti: Rose of Hiroshima for tape (2017) – 4- channel version
- Anton Stuk: Kopernik for violin, video and live electronics (2017)
- GrupLab: Plejrek 80 for mixed ensemble (2017)
Friday, April 28, 2017, 7:30 pm, The MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art
- Piotr Sarnecki: String Quartet No. 4 (2015)
- Leo Samama: String Quartet No. 3 op. 93 (2016)
Sunday, April 30, 2017, 6:00 pm, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic
- Maciej Jabłoński: Symphony No. 3 for symphony orchestra (1997/98, rev. 2015)
[Sources: pwm.com.pl, festiwal.zkp.Kraków.pl]