August 22, 2024 marked one hundred years since Andrzej Markowski was born in Lublin. He was a noted Polish conductor, composer and founder—as well as the first director—of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival. Coming from a musical family (his father, Tadeusz, was a singer and actor, and his older brother, Jan, a composer and pianist), Andrzej…Continue Reading Markowski Centenary
RecArt, a relatively new recording label based in Poznań, Poland, has released four albums in the past few months that feature Polish musicians and composers. These albums showcase the depth and richness of Poland’s musical heritage, from classical to contemporary compositions, and highlight RecArt’s dedication to preserving Poland’s musical legacy while exploring new creative horizons….Continue Reading New All-Polish Recordings on RecArt
Our good colleagues at the Association of Polish Chamber Musicians (SPMK) and the Villa Decius in Kraków are collaborating on the series “Summer Concerts of the Piano Cooperative,” which will take place on Sundays in June (23rd) and August (11th and 25th). The programs of these free concerts celebrate composers’ anniversaries as well as world…Continue Reading Mołodyńska-Wheeler Premiere & Other SPMK Concerts at Villa Decius
On June 24, the 48th J. K. Mertz Guitar Festival in Bratislava brought us world premieres of music written for classical guitar by renowned Polish and Slovak composers. The concert featured a combination of guitar, flute, and string quartet. Polish guitarists Marek Nosal and Jakub Moroźiński performed on stage with musicians from Slovakia—Ondrej Veselý (guitar),…Continue Reading World Premieres of Guitar Music in Bratislava
The world-renowned chamber ensemble, Sinfonietta Cracovia, is gearing up for its 30th anniversary celebration. These celebrations will last a full year of programming, but the spring 2024 season featured a special highlight concert on July 9. Held at the Kraków Philharmonic, the program featured several outstanding artists associated with the ensemble, as well as the…Continue Reading Sinfonietta Cracovia Anniversary & Majkusiak Premiere
The 53rd “Poznan Music Spring” Festival of Contemporary Music began on May 23 and came to its conclusion this past weekend on May 26. This festival of contemporary music featured an incredible variety of composers as well as their pieces. Premieres of works by Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska, Artur Kroschel, Monika Kędziora and Sławomir Czarnecki took place…Continue Reading 2024 ‘Poznań Music Spring’ Festival
On April 26, the winners of the 65th Jubilee Tadeusz Baird Competition for Young Composers were unveiled during the Competition’s final concert, which was held for the first time at the Baird Philharmonic in Zielona Góra. Members of the Competition Jury included the following distinguished composers: Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil (chairwoman), Alicja Gronau, Rafał Kłoczko, Katarzyna Kwiecień-Długosz…Continue Reading 2024 Baird Competition for Young Composers
On May 11 in Georgia, the Augusta Symphony will be led by their Music Director—German conductor Dirk Meyer—in the US Premiere of City Sketches by Henryk Wars. This jazzy suite fits perfectly on a program that combines works by American composers Leonard Bernstein (“Three Dance Episodes” from On the Town) and Duke Ellington (Suite from…Continue Reading US Premiere of Wars’s ‘City Sketches’
The world premiere of Marta Ptaszyńska’s latest work, Crystallites Polyphony for string quartet and marimba, will take place on May 31 at the Polish Consulate of Chicago. The program will also include several other works by Ptaszyńska—Blue Line for marimba solo (2010) and Elegy in Memoriam of John Paul II for solo viola (2005), —as well as Krzysztof…Continue Reading Ptaszyńska’s World Premiere and Other News
The 36th Cracow International Composers’ Festival took place from April 20-28, 2024. It was held under the theme of “Mathematics in music,” which was also the topic of the musicological session held during the Festival. The special guest of this year’s edition was composer and cultural organizer Jerzy Kornowicz who, in the years 2003-2015, served…Continue Reading Premieres at the 2024 Cracow Int’l Composers’ Festival