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23 June 2019 is the deadline for submitting applications for the Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów, in south-eastern Poland. The competition is open to entrants of any age and nationality and is divided into two categories - piano and chamber ensembles. It is a new cultural initiative whose purpose is to promote Polish music around the world and make listeners realise the quality and significance of the musical legacy of Stanisław Moniuszko and many other distinguished Polish composers from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music (Międzynarodowy Konkurs Muzyki Polskiej im Stanisława Moniuszki) in Rzeszów has been initiated in order to promote that part of the great legacy of nineteenth and twentieth century Polish music which has been forgotten or, for a variety of reasons, has been less popular in concert practice. Its other objective is to present rediscovered works to the general public and provide this unjustly neglected legacy with appropriate analyses and new editions. The competition also endeavours to promote talented musicians who are willing to include lesser-known works written by Polish composers in their concert programmes. The final aim of the competition is to disseminate information about Polish artistic events to international recipients.
The Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów will be organised on a biennial basis and will be intended for a variety of different sets of performers.
The first edition of the competition will be divided into two distinct categories: piano and chamber ensembles. The competition accepts instrumental musicians applying either as soloists or as chamber ensembles (from duos to as many as sixteen musicians in an ensemble). There are no age or citizenship restrictions for the musicians applying to take part in the competition.
Participants will present works chosen from among those written by fifty Polish composers who were mostly active in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The list of composers includes Tadeusz Baird, Fryderyk Chopin, Ignacy Friedman, Leopold Godowski, Henryk Górecki, Witold Lutosławski, Moritz Moszkowski, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Andrzej Panufnik, Karol Szymanowski, Aleksander Tansman, Józef Wieniawski, and of course Moniuszko himself.
Auditions will take place at the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic Hall in Rzeszów and at the University of Rzeszów between 20 and 26 September 2019. The Prize Winners Concert, along with the Award Ceremony, will be held on 27 September 2019 at the Podkarpacka Philharmonic Hall in Rzeszów and again on 29 September 2019 at the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw.
The application deadline is 23 June 2019. On 21 and 22 May in Warsaw, a preliminary round was held for Polish candidates, and sixteen pianists and ensembles qualified for the first round of the competition.
The jury will consist of distinguished Polish and foreign musicians and musical personalities. The following three main prizes will be separately awarded in both categories: First Prize: 20,000 euros, Second Prize: 10,000 euros and Third Prize: 5,000 euros, in addition to three equivalent honourable mentions in the amount of 1,500 euros each. The participants will also be awarded special, individual and other additional prizes.
The competition is organized by the Institute of Music and Dance and the Artur Malawski Podkarpacka Philharmonic.
The rulebook, framework schedule, application forms, and details of repertoire, composers and sheet music, as well as all the news updates relating to the event, can be found at www.konkursmuzykipolskiej.pl/en/
Born on 5 May 1819 in Minsk, Stanisław Moniuszko was an organist who taught at Warsaw Conservatory and became Musical Director of the Warsaw Opera House. He composed operas, masses, chamber works, songs and a symphonic poem.
His opera Halka was the first Polish national opera, and he retains a great reputation in Poland. He died in Warsaw on 4 June 1872.
Posted 6 June 2019 by Edyta Sudoł