I EDITION OF INTERNATIONAL ECUMENICAL

CONCERT OF PENITENTIAL AND PASSION MUSIC IN ŻORY

The concert will start with an ecumenical prayer by the hosts (parish priests).

FRIDAY:

24^th March 2023 r. at 5.00 PM, Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Żory, 4 Osińska Street.

THE WYŻSZOBRAMSKI CHAMBER CHOIR FROM CIESZYN

The Wyższobramski Chamber Choir of the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Cieszyn was founded in 2006. It consists of several people who have been associated with the singing movement in Cieszyn for years. The initiator and conductor of the ensemble is Piotr Sikora.

The choir's repertoire, comprising over 320 pieces, is primarily sacral a cappella songs by Polish and foreign artists, as well as folk, patriotic and popular music. The choir serves primarily in the Jesus Church in Cieszyn, it also performs during various ceremonies throughout Poland. It takes part in charity concerts and annual reunions of the choirs of the Cieszyn Diocese of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church. In its short history, it also gave concerts in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Great Britain.

The choir has four CDs to its credit. In 2012, together with organist Paweł Seligman, it recorded an album entitled "Let's save the organs of the Church of Jesus". At the end of 2013, another album of the choir was released entitled "Joytime", presenting a selection of the most beautiful Christmas carols from the choir's repertoire. In the fall of 2016, a double CD album entitled "Reformation Sounds" was released where The Wyższobramski Chamber Choir and organist Paweł Seligman present works by composers associated with the Reformation. In 2019, Choristers from Cieszyn together with a mixed choir "Echo" from Zebrzydowice and organist Arkadiusz Popławski recorded an album entitled "Be thrice glorified" which featured Evangelical and Catholic songs dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

Information about the conductor:

 The Conductor: Piotr Sikora

Born in 1981 in Cieszyn, graduated from the Music School of the 1st degree named after Ignacy Paderewski in Cieszyn in the piano class. From an early age, he was involved in choir work, first in the Hosanna children's and youth choir, then in the Cieszyn Chamber Choir, the Choir of the Middle School and High School of the Evangelical Society in Cieszyn, currently as a member of parish choirs in Cieszyn and Bażanowice. Since 2006, he has been the conductor of the Wyższobramski Chamber Choir of the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Cieszyn. In 2013, he was awarded a silver badge of honor of the Polish Association of Choirs and Orchestras for many years of involvement in the amateur singing movement and work for the restoration of the W. Sauer organ in Cieszyn. He collaborates as a soloist with the Artis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jean-Claude Hauptmann.

Programme:

1. "O, człowiecze" – music Jan Gawlas, Old Polish words

2. "O, jakże cierpiał" – music Robert Harkness

3. "Jezu, mój Jezu" – music Johann Crüger

4. "Dlaczego w twym oku" – music Sally DeFord, words Adela Bajko

5. "Getsemane" – words and music Sally DeFord, translation Piotr Sikora

6. "O, mój Jezu" – music Johann Sebastian Bach BWV 487

7. "Bóg tak kocha świat" from cantata "Ukrzyżowanie" – music John Stainer

8. "Gdy patrzę na cudowny krzyż" – music Giuseppe Verdi

THE MIXED CHOIR OF THE WAWEL CATHEDRAL

The Mixed Choir of the Wawel Cathedral was founded in 2006 on the initiative of the current conductor Andrzej Korzeniowski. Through its activities, it continues the centuries-old musical tradition of the Wawel Cathedral - the ensemble's repertoire includes vocal and instrumental as well as a cappella compositions from the Renaissance to the 21st century.

The choir conducts lively concert activity, also as part of prestigious music festivals, such as the 50th International Festival of Sacred Music in Loreto, the 14th Summer Festival of the Cracow Opera, the 45th International Organ Festival in Koszalin, the 22nd International Festival of Sacred Music "GAUDE MATER", the 24th Festival in Vác, 1st Wambierzyce Music Meetings named after I. Reimann, Days of Choral Music in Garwolin or the 34th International Festival of Religious Music named after Fr. S. Ormiński in Rumia. In 2015, the choir took part in the screening of the "Metropolis" movie by Fritz Lang (music by Abel Korzeniowski performed live), in 2016, it added splendor to the visit of Pope Francis in the Wawel Cathedral, and in 2021, it joined the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Royal Bell "Zygmunt" by performing Mass C -major "Coronation" KV 317 of W.A. Mozart. The formation also has many album recordings, including a monographic session with the works of Klaudia Rabiega, realized in 2021.

The Mixed Choir of the Wawel Cathedral is the winner of a number of awards, including 1st place in the 8th National Caecilianum Competition, Grand Prix of the 6th National Review of Church Choirs of Penitential and Passion Songs of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, 1st place in the category of mixed choirs at the 5th International Choir Festival Cantate Domino, 1st place in category of "sacral music" at the Cracow International Choir Festival, 2nd place at the National Choir Tournament Legnica Cantat 43, Golden Diploma and 2nd place at the National Choir Tournament Legnica Cantat 50 and the Grand Prix and Special Award of the President of the Council of Kashubian Choirs at the 34th International Festival of Religious Music named after Fr. S. Ormiński in Rumia. The specificity of the choir's activity also includes cooperation with Polish cultural institutions, such as the Philharmonics of Cracow, Podkarpackie, Częstochowa and Silesia, the Cracow Opera, the Cracow Chamber Orchestra, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and the Theatre named after Juliusz Słowacki in Cracow (recording of the soundtrack and participation in the performance "DRAGON!" in the courtyard of the Wawel Royal Castle in 2019). The choir regularly cooperates with the Academy of Music named after Krzysztof Penderecki in Cracow.

Information about the conductor:

The Conductor – ANDRZEJ KORZENIOWSKI

Conductor, choirmaster, academic lecturer, PhD of Musical Arts, graduate of the Academy of Music in Cracow. He also developed his conducting skills during symphonic conducting master classes conducted by Jerzy Salwarowski and Gabriel Chmury.

He has collaborated with many renowned orchestras and choirs, including the Cracow Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, the Gdynia Symphony Orchestra, the State Philharmonic Choir in Minsk, the Cracow Philharmonic Boys' Choir and the Polish Radio Choir in Cracow.

His achievements include over 800 concerts conducted in several European countries (Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, France, Spain, Italy, Vatican), as well as recordings of theatre and film music for both Polish and foreign productions. In 2007 and 2009, he received awards for the best conductor as part of the 4th and 6th National Review of Church Choirs of Penitential and Passion Songs of the Upper Silesian Metropolis in Żory, and in 2022 he was awarded the Special Award for the Best Conductor by the jury of the choir competition of the 34th International Religious Music Festival named after Fr. Stanisław Ormiński in Rumia.

Currently, he is the artistic director of the cathedral choirs in Cracow, including the Mixed Choir of the Wawel Cathedral, which he founded in 2006. At the same time, he is engaged in pedagogical activity, running a choir conducting class at the Faculty of Creativity, Interpretation and Music Education of the Academy of Music named after Krzysztof Penderecki in Cracow, where since 2016 he has also been the vice-dean.

 Programme:

1. Feliks Nowowiejski – Parce Domine (4 min)

2. Giacomo Antonio Perti – Inter vestibulum (2 min)

3. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki – Krzyżu Chrystusa (3 min)

4. Tomás Luis de Victoria – Judas mercator pessimus (3 min)

5. Rihards Dubra – O Crux Ave (2 min)

6. Johann Kuhnau – Tristis est anima mea (4 min.)

7. Klaudia Rabiega – Crucem Tuam (3 min)


8. Tomás Luis de Victoria – O vos omnes (3 min) 


9. Mikołaj Zieleński – In Monte Oliveti (3 min)

10. Karol Szymanowski – Spraw niech płaczę (4 min)

11. Antonio Lotti – Crucifixus (3 min)

12. Anton Bruckner – Christus factus est (5 min)

13. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki – Matko Najświętsza (11 min)

SATURDAY:

25^th March 2023 r. at 5.00 PM, Parish of St. App. Philip and Jacob

in Żory, 16 Garncarska Street.

„HRON” CHOIR – SLOVAKIA

HRON Choir is an amateur vocal group that was established by the teachers from Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, in 1949. The choir was named after the river Hron, which flows through the central part of Slovakia. Its present members are amateur singers of various professions.  

The choir is dramaturgically oriented to the choral works from the Renaissance period to present. 

During its existence, Hron Choir has participated in many competitions, various events, church and secular concerts. HRON spread the music culture of vocal and tuneful beauty, pleasure and enthusiasm to thousands of listeners. By its interpretations, HRON worthily represented the town Banská Bystrica not only in homeland, but also in Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Vatikan. 

The current conductor, Peter Bibza, has been leading the choir for 25 years.  

From the long history of Hron Choir, there are several events worth mentioning: 2^nd International  Smetana´s Competition in Litomysl (CZ) in 1995, The International Viliam Figus Bystry´s Competition in Banska Bystrica (SK) in 1999, 2005 and 2018; The International Competition „Music World to Mondo in Musica” in 2000; The celebration of the 20^th Anniversary of Recognition of Croatian and  Slovakia in Zagreb (CR) in 2013; International Cracow Choir Festival (PL) in 2013; International  Festival „Vranov´s Choir Festival” in Vranov nad Toplou (SK) in 2012 and 2022. 

Information about the conductor:

 The Conductor – PETER BIBZA

Mgr. art. Peter Bibza cooperated with several choirs. Since 1998, he has been the conductor and artistic  director of the Hron Choir in Banská Bystrica. In 2014 he founded the Štvorlístok Children's Choir  in Zvolen and has been in charge since then. In 2017 he began to lead the Youth Choir of the  Lutheran High School in Banská Bystrica, and since 2022 he has also been the conductor and artistic  director of the Mladost University Choir of the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. In the years  2000 - 2012, he was the conductor of the Banská Bystrica Military Band. He studied the trombone and  conducting. Currently, he is a doctoral student in Musical Arts at the Academy of Arts in Banská  Bystrica. He is also the author of several compositions and arrangements for choirs.

Programme:

1. Anonym – Svjatyj Bože

2. Johannes Jeep – Musika die ganz

3. Thomas Tallis – If ye love me

4. Martin Fabry – Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina

5. Viliam Figuš-Bystrý – Hojže, Bože

6. Anton Bruckner – Locus Iste

7. Mikuláš Moyzes – Da mihi Jesu

8. Nikolaj Kedrov – Otče náš

9. Viliam Figuš-Bystrý – Bože otče, láska večná

10. Ernani Aguiar – Salmo 150

11. Dušan Bill – Hospodin mojím pastierom

12. Urmas Sisask – Sanctus

13. Stanisław Głowacki – Miserere

14. Stanislaw Glowacki – Laudate Dominum

15. Mark Burrows – Yesu Azali Awa

Solo singing: Radmila Mojžišová and Nikola Karkošiaková

The Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble is a leading Polish chamber vocal ensemble, founded in 1990 by the conductor Anna Szostak, who remains their leader. While predominantly recognised for their perfect performances of contemporary music, they are also extraordinarily well versed in interpreting early music.

Over a career spanning more than 30 years, the Camerata Silesia has won international renown, performing at the most prestigious concert halls of Europe and Asia, including the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Parco della Musica in Rome, the Palais de Beaux-Arts and Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Opéra-Comique in Paris, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Lanfang Theatre in Beijing, and the World Trade Center in Taipei.

 The ensemble regularly participates in the most important international festivals in Poland, being a guest of Warsaw Autumn, Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, Chopin and his Europe, Misteria Paschalia, and Wratislavia Cantans, amongst others. The choir has also been invited to important festivals abroad, such as Sommerfestspiele in Bregenz, ISCM World Music Days in Vienna, Musikfestival Landschaft Westfalen in Münster, Sounds New Contemporary Music Festival in Canterbury, and Velvet Curtain 2 International Contemporary Music Festival in Lviv.

The Camerata Silesia has premiered over 300 new pieces, frequently composed with the Ensemble and Anna Szostak in mind and dedicated to them. The level of the choir’s work was particularly valued by Krzysztof Penderecki – the Camerata Silesia participated in multiple performances of his Luke’s Passion, A Polish Requiem, and Seven Gates of Jerusalem conducted by the composer himself, also performing the Canticum Canticorum at the Warsaw Autumn festival. In 2012, the ensemble, in its extended membership, was invited to participate in the shows and DVD recordings of the stage version of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion directed by Grzegorz Jarzyna. In 2017, the choir performed the same work in London, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.

The international critical acclaim the Camerata Silesia has won with their concerts extends to their recordings as well. The ensemble has already appeared in several dozen albums. Four of their own ones, conducted by Anna Szostak, won the „Fryderyk” Music Award – in 1997, 2020, 2021, and 2022, while multiple others have been nominated. Other projects on which the Camerata collaborated with other artists have been awarded the „Fryderyk” as well: a 1997 monographic album with pieces by Paweł Szymański, and the „100 for 100” box set documenting 100 years of Polish music, the latter winning as many as two statuettes in 2020.

The patronage of the City of Katowice, granted in 2004, as well as permanent collaboration with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, whose seat has become the Camerata Silesia’s performance venue, are beneficial for the dynamic development of the ensemble, enabling it to work with the finest conductors, soloists, instrumentalists, and orchestras in the world. These are, to name but a few, the Wiener Symphoniker, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hofkapelle München, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the London Baroque, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Aukso – Chamber Orchestra of Tychy, as well as the Simfonia Varsovia.

Information about the conductor:

The Conductor – Anna Szostak

Anna Szostak is a conductor, teacher, professor of musical arts. A graduate of the University of Silesia Artistic Faculty, she continues to maintain close ties with her alma mater. She has completed a postgraduate course in choir conducting and vocal pedagogy at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. Anna Szostak has been the creator and leader of several vocal ensembles, with whom she has won prizes at festivals in Poland and abroad. She has found the greatest acclaim, however, as the director and conductor of the Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers Ensemble, which she has been leading continuously since she founded it in 1990. The ensemble, composed of singers-soloists, maintains a lively performing career, with the leader conducting both a cappella and vocal-instrumental pieces, frequently joined by outstanding soloists and orchestras.

Anna Szostak has led over 300 premieres of works by contemporary composers, such as Krzysztof Baculewski, Régis Campo, Wiesław Cienciała, Ryszard Gabryś, Aleksander Gabryś, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Knittel, Andrzej Koszewski, Justyna Kowalska-Lasoń, Zygmunt Krauze, Andrzej Krzanowski, Stanisław Krupowicz, Paweł Łukaszewski, Aleksander Nowak, Marcel Pérès, Zbigniew Preisner, Stefano Procaccioli, Bogusław Schaeffer, Przemysław Scheller, Witold Szalonek, Paweł Szymański, Piotr Tabakiernik, Romuald Twardowski, Krzysztof Wołek, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, Agata Zubel, and many others. She has also conducted performances of recently discovered centuries-old pieces.

Anna Szostak has appeared in over 60 phonographic publications. Camerata Silesia’s albums, in which she is responsible both for conducting and the conceptual work forming the foundation of each project, win prestigious awards, finding critical acclaim both at home and abroad.

In 2015, she was awarded the Gloria Artis Bronze Medal for Merit in Culture for special achievements in artistic and cultural activity, and protecting national culture and heritage.

Information about the cellist:

The Cellist – Michał Koziński

Michał Koziński graduated from the Music Academy of Karol Szymanowski in Katowice in the cello class of dr adt Adam Krzeszowiec. Participating in many workshops and music courses, he also developed his skills with outstanding teachers, such as: Phillippe Muller, Frans Helmerson, Jens Peter Maintz, Jelena Ocic, Johannes Krebs, Danjulo Ishizaka, Michał Dmochowski, Kazimierz Michalik, Jeroen Rehling. Alexander Gebert, Amanda Forsyth. He was an active participant in the "Europe at the Gates" programme.

He is a laureate of cello and chamber competitions, i.e.: 2nd place at the Bach Solo Competition, 3rd place at the International G. Mahler in Jihlava, Grand Prix at the International Youth Music Competition in Atlanta, 1st place at the International Accordion Competition in Pula, 1st place at the Tiziano Rossetti International Music Competition in Lugano.

He has collaborated many times with the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of Tychy, the Bielsko Chamber Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Zabrze Philharmonic, the Silesian Philharmonic, the Lower Silesian Philharmonic, and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra. He took part in the Lutoslawski Youth Orchestra concert tour.

For his outstanding achievements, he received a scholarship from the Rector of the Academy of Music in Katowice and a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage "Young Poland".

Currently, he is a musician of the orchestra of the Silesian Opera in Bytom and an active participant in the NOSPR Academy.

Programme:

Gregorio Allegri – Miserere (elaboration by Stanisław Krupowicz) 

Mikołaj Zieleński – In monte Oliveti

Antonio Lotti – Crucifixus

Samuel Barber – Agnus Dei

Sabina Meck – W krzyżu cierpienie (elaborated)

Sabina Meck – Ludu, mój ludu (elaborated)

John Tavener – Svyati for choir and for cello

Musicians:

Soloists and choir of The Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble:

Magdalena Szostak-Krupowicz – soprano

Sabina Meck – alt

Bogusław Kowalski – tenor

Remigiusz Nowak – bass

Michał Koziński – cello

Anna Szostak – the Conductor

The concert will end with an ecumenical prayer by the Metropolitan of Katowice, Fr. Archbishop Dr. Wiktor Skworc and the Head of the Diocese of Katowice of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church, Fr. bishop dr Marian Niemiec