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
A Review by Marek Zebrowski Sunday afternoon, April 21, marked the end of the 2023/2024 concert season organized jointly by the Holocaust Museum LA and USC Polish Music Center. The performers for this occasion were a dynamic duo of violinist Karolina Mikołajczyk and classical accordionist Iwo Jedynecki. They performed in the Childrens’ Memorial, an evocative…Continue Reading Sounds of a Bygone Era
Virtual reality meets composition with “Point Line Piano” in Karlsruhe, Germany. This audiovisual composition experience was created in collaboration with digital artists OpenEndedGroup and Polish composer-pianist Jarosław Kapuściński. “Point Line Piano” is a project that rethinks the composition, performance and reception of piano music by fusing its modes of creating, playing, and listening. “Point Line…Continue Reading Kapuściński Premiere in Germany
The POLIN Music Festival, a festival celebrating Polish and Jewish music, has recently finished four exciting concert evenings. Held from February 22-25 in the POLIN Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw, this year’s festival explored questions such as ‘What is Jewish music today?’. Performers range from new artists to international stars such the Grammy Award-winning…Continue Reading 2024 POLIN Music Festival
This month in celebration of the 75th birthday of Piotr Moss, the Polish Orchestra ‘Sinfonia Iuventus‘ performed a program the composer’s symphonic works. Held on February 17, the concert program included Zoo, a five-part Suite for orchestra that is a humorous reminiscence of the composer’s visit to the Warsaw Zoo. The audience also heard Moss’s…Continue Reading Piotr Moss: 75th Birthday Concert
On February 16, Polish composer Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa celebrated her 75th birthday with the premiere of her new piece: Seven Deadly Sins – Tragicomic Suite for Large Symphony Orchestra. The suite contains an ironic and sarcastic interpretation of the cardinal human vices, arranged in seven parts: Pride, Envy, Debauchery, Greed, Anger, Gluttony and Sloth. The piece…Continue Reading Wnuk-Nazarowa Premiere in Kielce
The 2023-2024 concert season is filled with special anniversary performances of several composers who recently celebrated their eightieth birthdays. Last summer, it was Marta Ptaszyńska and Krzysztof Meyer who turned eighty, and last October it was Elżbieta Sikora’s turn to pass this important milestone. Stanisław Suchora and his agency, Sonora Music, have done a wonderful…Continue Reading Celebrating Anniversaries: Sikora
The next few days will bring two new exciting world premieres of works written by Polish composers. First, on December 15, 2023, we’ll have a chance to hear Aleksander Nowak’s Concerto per mezzo for piano and orchestra. The concert will be performed by pianist Piotr Sałajczyk and the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of…Continue Reading More December Premieres: Aleksander Nowak & Zygmunt Krauze
The 5th anniversary of the Christmas Festival “Art Mintaka” will be held on December 8-10, 2023 at the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz. This lesser-known Festival features works by Polish composers, including five world premieres. Concerts will be performed by excellent instrumentalists, including: percussionist Miłosz Pękała, pianist Piotr Nowicki, cellist Gustaw Bafeltowski,the Herbert Piano…Continue Reading Premieres at 2023 Christmas Festival “Art Mintaka”
We’ve received news from composer Marta Ptaszyńska about the premiere of her newest composition. Trzy Wizje Według Dantego [Three Visions According to Dante] is Ptaszyńska’s double concerto for saxophone, piano and orchestra and it will be premiered on November 30, 2023 at NOSPR Hall. The performers are Bartłomiej Duś, Magdalena Duś, and the NOSPR orchestra under the baton of Bas Wiegers….Continue Reading World Premiere: Ptaszyńska’s “Trzy Wizje Według Dantego”