The nominees for the 7th edition of the ‘Koryfeusz’ Polish Music Awards have been announced. Organized by the Institute of Music and Dance (IMiT), the ‘Koryfeusz’ Award was created in 2011 on the initiative of the music community in order to recognize its most outstanding members. It is a distinction intended to honor individual artists, performers, musicologists, critics, journalists, humanists, researchers, animators, promoters and cultural managers, as well as groups of artists, institutions, artistic events and a variety of projects that are creative, animated and educational. ‘Koryfeusz’ Awards are given to artists holding Polish citizenship or to Polish institutions operating in Poland and abroad in the categories of: Personality of the Year, Musical Event of the Year, Debut of the Year and Honorary Award.
Competing for the title of Koryfeusz “Personality of the Year” will be: soprano Joanna Freszel, saxophonist Paweł Gusnar, pianist, composer and arranger Nikola Kołodziejczyk, pianist Szymon Nehring and composer Artur Zagajewski.
The “Music Event of the Year” will be chosen from among the four following nominees: the 7th Festival of Premieres – Polish New Music Festival; the release of the double album Quo vadis Feliks Nowowiejski; Grammy Award for Penderecki conducts Penderecki vol. 1 (Warner Music Poland); world premiere of Alexander Tansman’s opera Golden Fleece at the Łódź Grand Theater.
The title of the “Debutant of the Year” will go to one of the following young musicians: percussionist Marianna Bednarska, conductor Paweł Kapuła, saxophonist Kuba Więcek, or flutist Marianna Żołnacz.
Public voting for the Debut of the Year category will be open from September 15-19 at www.koryfeusz.org.pl. During the same time period, the award’s Electoral College—consisting of rectors of music academies and universities, directors of musicology institutes, music journalists, representatives of music trade associations and organizations, and previous winners—will select the laureates in the remaining three categories, as well as the Honorary Award winner, via secret ballot.
On October 1, the International Day of Music, winners of the 2017 Koryfeusz Awards will be announced at the Koryfeusz Award Gala – “Róbmy swoje” held in the W. Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw. Gala performers will include guitarists Marek Napiórkowski and Artur Lesicki, pianist Piotr Latoszyński and a jazz ensemble featuring Dominik Bukowski – vibraphone, Krzysztof Herdzin – piano, Michał Barański – double bass, and Paweł Dobrowolski and Sebastian Frankiewicz – drums, joined by the Polish Radio Orchestra and all conducted by Krzysztof Herdzin and Maciej Koczur. The Gala program will feature the premiere of Zygmunt Konieczny‘s Piano Concerto, which was commissioned by the Film and Jazz Music Foundation and co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage within the framework of the “Composing Commissions” program implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance. The Award Gala will be streamed live online starting at 6:00 p.m. local time at www.koryfeusz.org.pl and www.polskieradio.pl.
[Source: koryfeusz.org.pl]