The International Chamber Music Festival “Music on the Heights” [Muzyka Na Szczytach] is a cyclical yearly event held in Zakopane since 2009. The “heights” included in the event’s name symbolize both the location of the Festival, as well as its superb artistic level. The organizers’ greatest concern is to popularize Polish music throughout the world by including it in the repertoire of world-famous performers and thus influencing the European integration of culture, music, and art.
With a tongue-in-cheek theme, this year’s 3rd edition is entitled “The Fashion for Culture” and will be held from September 13-20, 2014. Highlights include the Polish premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s Memories of my Father by the Brodsky Quartet. Works by and visits from members of the Panufnik family are sprinkled throughout the program of this year’s Festival, in recognition of the centenary of Andrzej Panufnik. The World Premiere of Justyna Bargielska’s Clarissima—a play about the German pianist and composer Clara Schumann, wife of Robert Schumann, to be performed by pianist Marek Bracha and actress Aleksandra Justas, with direction from Tomasz Cyz—will be another high point.
The festival formula is based on holding a range of concerts, recitals, exhibitions and film screenings with live music. The choice of event locations and surroundings additionally boosts its appeal to a wide circle of audience members and its international character enhances its renown and prestige. Festival organizers at the Mieczysław Karłowicz Association in Zakopane have decided to restore Zakopane to its former glory, by inviting eminent musicians and artists to perform amongst the Tatran scenery.
The Festival’s program is based on an innovative manner of fusing classical music with other fields of art—such as photography, film or fashion show—and its presentation by artists employing various forms and techniques of art. The diverse artistic means are adjusted to the needs of a very wide target audience – a combination of various age groups, both locals and guests, music lovers and casual tourists enjoying the local natural scenery, all welcome to enjoy the Festival’s artistic offering.
[Source: muzykanaszczytach.com, wyborcza.pl, polmic.pl]