In 2015, the Lira Ensemble will celebrate its 50th Anniversary. Lira began as a small group of talented young women singers, but today the Lira Ensemble includes a symphony orchestra and a dance troupe as well as the Lira Singers, based at Loyola University Chicago as artist-in-residence since 1995. Over nearly 50 years, the Lira Ensemble…Continue Reading Lira Ensemble Celebrates 50 Years
PWM’s Polish contemporary music magazine Quarta publishes news, interviews, essays and reviews concerning Polish composers and music. Originally published as two separate language editions—Quarta and Kwarta—content is now published in English and Polish on the same electronic pages. Content of this quarterly magazine is freely accessible in PDF format. The latest installments of Quarta are…Continue Reading New Edition Of PWM’s Quarta/Kwarta
Polish composer and 2011 Paderewski Lecturer Paweł Łukaszewski was granted the 2014 Hector Berlioz Prize of the prestigious Orphées d’Or at a ceremony on June 30 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The Orphées d’Or are the annual Grand Prizes given out by the Academie du Disque Lyrique, and the Hector Berlioz Prize category…Continue Reading Paweł Łukaszewski Wins Orphée d’Or
The World Première of the new opera by Eugeniusz Knapik will be held on June 25 in the Teatr Wielki -Opera Narodowa [Grand Theater – National Opera] in Warsaw as a part of the Terytoria series. With a libretto by Krzysztof Koehler based on Herman Melville’s novel, Knapik’s Moby Dick will be directed by Barbara…Continue Reading Knapik Opera Premiere
From June 8-14, the 26th edition of the International Festival of Kraków Composers (previously called the “Music Days of Kraków Composers” Festival) will be held. During the Festival, the following World Premieres will take place. On June 9 at 5:00 p.m., the World Premiere of Piotr Moss – Dédicace VI pour violon et alto à…Continue Reading Premieres At Kraków Composers’ Festival
On May 20, Sylwia Wysłowska of Culture.pl posted an article about the new hall being built for the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczeczin, Poland. Based on press releases and other source material and translated with edits by Paulina Schlosser on May 23, excerpts from the article are below. 12,734 square metres, two concert halls, an…Continue Reading Beautiful New Hall For Szczeczin Phil
On June 28, the Borowsky family will offer their incredible musicianship in support of the Paderewski Scholarship Fund in a concert at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland Auditorium in Washington, D.C. Hailed by the international press as “American Virtuosi,” the Borowsky family–two cellists, a violinist, a pianist, and a vocalist–has been praised world-wide…Continue Reading Paderewski Scholarship Fund Benefit Concert
In an article entitled “Breaking Down Chopin’s 24 Preludes,” Wojciech Oleksiak of Culture.pl explores the context and history of Chopin’s quintessential 24 Preludes, op. 28, as well as a brief discussion of each individual Prelude. The article is based on Mieczysław Tomaszewski Chopin, information from chopin.com, and an interview with Urszula Oleksiak. Below is an…Continue Reading Discussion Of Chopin’s 24 Preludes
The Board of Directors of the Witold Lutosławski Society announces the annual competition for the Lutosławski Scholarship, awarded by the family of the composer. The grant in the amount of $10,000 will be given to one candidate for further studies abroad. Polish students, graduates of music schools, composers, conductors, instrumentalists, and vocalists are invited to…Continue Reading 2014 Lutoslawski Stipend
According to a new article in Biweekly.pl, anthologies of Grupa w Składzie and Andrzej Bieżan released in early 2014 along with the upcoming Tie Break box set offer a good review of avant-garde jazz in Poland. Written by Rafał Księżyk and entitled “The Institutionists,” the article explores both the history and the mythology of the development of…Continue Reading Free Jazz Exploration