Classical Music Magazine "Gramophone" features I, Culture Orchestra in its latest issue
The latest edition of Britain's Gramophone, the world's most read classical music magazine, mentions I, Culture Orchestra in the "Soundbites" section. The new August issue, which features Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel on the cover, features a picture of Sir Neville Marriner and Paweł Kotła alongside the announcement that the English conductor and founder of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields "is to be honorary conductor of the new I, Culture Orchestra". Polish native Kotła is the youth orchestra's artistic director.
The magazine goes on to comment that the endeavour "will bring together musicians from Eastern European states to encourage cultural understanding." Marriner told Gramophone that he aims for the initiative to follow "in the footsteps of Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra". This Seville-based youth orchestra is comprised of Lebanese, Syrian, Israeli, Jordanian, Egyptian, Palestinian, Iranian and Spanish musicians and aims to promote tolerance between Israelis and Palestinians and to also foster Arab-Israeli relations.
I, Culture Orchestra likewise aims to encourage artistic collaboration between Eastern European states and to expose musicians from countries such as Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia to Western European musical training and audiences. The project aims to bring on permanent change in the approach towards orchestra education in the participating countries and provides young musicians with the opportunity to work under the direction of some of the most eminent teachers from leading orchestras in Western Europe, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Opera de Lyon and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
The online version of the article also mentions acclaimed Polish soloist Peter Jablonski, who will be performing along with the orchestra during their European tour.
For the official I, Culture Orchestra website, see: www.orchestra.iam.pl
I, Culture Orchestra was created by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute forming one of the six flagship projects of the Cultural Programme of Poland's EU Council presidency.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute