Beta version
Write to us 
21 November 2009

Main page

Polish Culture in the World Polish Cultural Institutes
important links Ministry of Culture and National Heritage - Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych

Publisher:
Adam Mickiewicz Institute
ul. Mokotowska 25
00-560 Warsaw
tel. (+48 22) 44 76 100
fax (+48 22) 44 76 152
www.iam.pl 
about us  redakcja@culture.pl  order newsletter 
THE SILESIAN DAYS OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
languages: Polish  / English 
 

The Silesian Days of Contemporary Music started in 1984 as a follow-up to the Silesian Composers' Tribune, a traditional concert series organized by the Katowice Division of the Polish Composers' Union and the Academy of Music.

The Silesian Days of Contemporary Music started in 1984 as a follow-up to the Silesian Composers' Tribune, a traditional concert series organized by the Katowice Division of the Polish Composers' Union and the Academy of Music. It is the organizers' intention for the Days to embrace all kinds of contemporary music ideas and programmes, from avant-garde to postmodernism. While the promotion of new Polish music is the prime objective, the Days welcome also works composed abroad, their programmes always including new music achievements representing diverse geographical areas, generations and styles.

The festival had twelve editions until 2006: the first five held annually in 1984-88, the following seven held biennially (alternating with the Silesian Composers' Tribune) after a six-year gap, that is in the years 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. The first three editions hosted a number of accomplished soloists and orchestras, including Aureli Blaszczok, Henryka Januszewska, Michalina Growiec, Roman Lasocki, Jerzy Mechlinski, Grzegorz Olkiewicz, the Kwartet Slaski / Silesian Quartet, Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra under Piotr Warzecha, Zabrzanska Filharmonia Gornicza under Tadeusz Babinski and Silesian Chamber Orchestra under Jan Wincenty Hawel. A lot of attention was paid to young composers, the Silesian Days being the venue of debuts of Wiesław Cienciala, Andrzej Dziadek, Slawomir Olszamowski i Piotr Radko.

The Days flourished particularly under Andrzej Krzanowski, one of the finest Silesian composers, in 1987-8. Krzanowski expanded the repertoire to include oratorios and cantatas, added concerts of the Youth Section of the Polish Composers' Union and introduced performances by talented secondary school students. The event gained prestige owing to the participation of foreign composers, most notably Freiburg's Klaus Huber, and to concerts played by Roman Jablonski, Elzbieta Stefanska-Lukowicz and Olga Szwajgier as well as the Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio and Television under Antoni Wit, Silesian Philharmonic Choir, Opole Philharmonic Orchestra under Marek Tracz and Bielsko Chamber Orchestra under Tadeusz Kocyba.

Despite being held after a six-year gap and on a biennial basis, the later editions of the Silesian Days followed the same principles with regard to contents and layout of concerts. The organizers have continued to aim for a most comprehensive review of the latest achievement of Silesian composers and for a presentation of works by major Polish – also the young – and foreign composers. For instance, contemporary American music was on the agenda in 1994. The concerts have included a number of world or Polish first performances of music written by composers of various generations, notably Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, Wojciech Kilar, Witold Szalonek i Eugeniusz Knapik

The 9th Silesian Days of Contemporary Music in 2000 were combined with a young composers' competition, and the winning works were performed at one of the festival concerts.
The Silesian Days of Contemporary Music
Polish Composers' Union - Katowice
ul. Radockiego 212/3, 40-645 Katowice
Artistic Director: Andrzej Dziadek
tel. (+48 32) 206 13 65

Polish Music Information Center
Polish Composers' Union
January 2002
updated by Anna Iwanicka-Nijakowska
November 2006
back to top
Browsing history




VIDEO COVERAGE  PHOTO COVERAGE  PAINTING  GRAPHIC ART  DRAWING  PHOTOGRAPHY  PORTRAITS 
RECENTLY ADDED
Kwadrofonik at Crossculture Festival
The European Film Academy (EFA) has announced its choice of international EFA Ambassadors. Among the selected distinguished personalities from the world of European film there is Maciej Stuhr. The Polish actor will represent EFA and the European Film Awards at various prestigious events.
The Berlin Maxim Gorki Theatre will show Heinrich von Kleist's "Amphitryon", directed by Jan Bosse (November 19, 2009) and Fritz Kater's "Haeven", directed by Armin Petras (November 21, 2009) at Stary Teatr in Cracow. The shows are part of the collaboration between the two theatres, called "Wanderlust".
18th History Book Fairs will take place on November 26 - Novemer 29, 2009, in Warsaw. The inauguratory press conference "History Book Fairs - the new beginning" starts on November 23, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. in Kubicki Arcades at the Royal Castle.
40 short documentary films from 11 countries have been qualified for competition in the 13th International Film Festival "Off Cinema". The Festival starts on November 18, 2009, in Poznań.
The former headquarters of the Polish United Workers' Party's Central Comitee, a monumetal building located in downtown Warsaw, near the de Gaulle traffic circle, was on November 16, 2009, inscribed on the list of registered monuments of the Masovian Voivodeship.
On November 13, 2009, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bohdan Zdrojewski, signed an agreement, according to which the Ministry shall co-fund the construction of the Centre of Applied Arts and Innovation Centre at the Academy of Fine Arts.
© Copyright by Instytut Adama Mickiewicza. All rights reserved - unless stated otherwise - including the rights of authors and the publisher. No further distribution of articles or other materials contained on the www.culture.pl website is permitted without the publisher's consent.
www.culture.pl ISSN 1734-0624 Nr 2882 | www.iam.pl
implementation: www.ornak.pl | design: Marek Zalejski / Studio Q
SITE MAP