The 27th annual Polish awards of the weekly magazine Polityka were presented on 14 January at the Polish Theatre in Warsaw. For this coveted award, artists and creators in eight categories—film, theater, literature, visual arts, classical music, popular music, digital media, and culture— are judged by a jury of ten critics from various media outlets. The gala was hosted by journalist Grażyna Torbicka and Polityka editor-in-chief of Jerzy Baczyński, and was broadcast by TVN.
The list of this year’s nominees included three artists representing classical music: director, playwright and librettist Krystian Lada for his work in opera, musical theater and the performing arts; countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński for the whole of his work; and violinist Martyna Pastuszka for “exceptional leadership skills” and “original expansion of the repertoire”—her band {oh!} Historical Orchestra has become the leader among Polish orchestras playing period instruments.
The “Polityka Passport” was awarded to countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński for his “uncommon ability to evoke emotions in the interpretations of early music” and for his “beautiful voice, stage charisma, diligence, ambitious repertoire and humility towards music.”
Jakub Józef Orliński (b. 1990, Warsaw) studied at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, the Opera Academy at the National Opera, and The Juilliard School of Music in New York. In 2019, he won Gramophone magazine’s Best Young Artist of the Year and the Polish Music Award’s Coryphaeus Prize for Personality of the Year, was featured in The New Yorker, and released the album Facce d’amore with the Il Pomo d’Oro ensemble.
The ZAiKS Association of Authors is a major partner of the award. For more information, visit polityka.pl.