POZNAŃ BAROQUE, OLD MUSIC – NEW DANCE
Poznań is considered the Polish capital city of baroque music and modern dance. It is the seat of the most remarkable Polish Baroque orchestra Arte Dei Suonatori and of the modern dance scene in Stary Browar, which has in recent years been presenting the most interesting phenomena of world choreography. The cultural programme of the Polish Presidency, drawing on the modern trends of re-interpreting tradition, will unite the musicians from Arte Dei Suonatori and the Stary Browar dancers in a joint project.
Poznań Baroque
5th– 21st November
The festival will be devoted to a wide spectrum of early music, with most attention paid to baroque music, and will cover several independent artistic and repertoire trends. The festival audience will have an opportunity to meet musicians and groups that in the last 10 years have regularly performed in Poznań, actively contributing to turning the city into an important centre of early music. Poznań will host, among others, Arte dei Suonatori – the best Polish group playing baroque music of the last decade, Orchestra Libera Classica and Hidemi Suzuki – the most important Asian orchestra playing classical and Romantic music on old instruments, Al Ayre Espanol and Eduardo López Banzo – whom classical music fans remember from sensational concerts and recordings from the 1990s and Holland Baroque Society – the most interesting orchestra of the young generation in the Netherlands.
Poznań Baroque will also include a prestigious project Génération Baroque, one of the most important European projects directed at students and young musicians that are just beginning their professional adventure with early music. The project was launched at the initiative of Martin Gester, a French harpsichordist, organist and conductor, and is a new form of the old project, organised for many years as Studio du Parlement de Musique. Génération Baroque is a reference to the form of sharing musical experiences that was characteristic for early music: not a standard academic procedure, but a "creative process". The project is aimed at musicians from all Europe.
Old Music – New Dance
5th – 27th November
Connecting the artists practicing modern dance and those playing early music, this project will focus on an insightful analysis of theoretical background of early music (its amazing richness both in terms of form and the art of composition) and translating it into the language of modern dance. Young choreographers from Poland, Denmark and Cyprus will make an attempt at transferring the old music into the language of contemporary choreography, discovering a fascinating abundance of structural solutions, and artistry in using emotions to influencing the viewers.
The project comprises three performances, choreographed by Małgorzata Haduch (Poland), Kirstine Kyhl Andersen (Denmark) and Lia Haraki (Cyprus). During an improvisation session they will try their hands at musical works of Baroque and other epochs, in cooperation with musicians playing early music (among others, Allan Rasmussen, Bruno Helstroffer, the Alpha trio) and with the help of playwrights and early music specialists. The aim of this activity is to present the most important inspirations of today’s dance in Poland and in Europe. The project will be accompanied by, among others, a conference and meetings with artists.
The programme has been prepared in cooperation with the Poznań City Hall, Poznańska Estrada and Art Stations Foundation.