The second-to-last I, CULTURE Orchestra concert in Madrid was attended by the ambassadors from the Eastern Partnership countries who, together with the Polish Ambassador to Spain, expressed their joy at the success of the European tour
Polish Ambassador to Spain, Ryszard Schnepf, stated "we are deeply thankful, proud of you and very happy", as the youth orchestra was so well-received at the half a dozen concerts performed thus far. The I, CULTURE Orchestra is comprised of young musicians from Poland and countries to the east of the European Union: Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. One hundred instrumentalists selected from 700 hopefuls performed with some of the best conductors in the most renowned concert halls in Europe. All participants were under 25 years of age. ICO has toured through Gdańsk, Brussels, Stockholm, Kraków and Berlin.
The project aims to give young musicians the opportunity to work with professional conductors and to tour some of Europe’s largest music venues. The Madrid concert, the second to last on the prestigious tour, was conducted under the baton of Sir Neville Marriner, ICO’s guest conductor. The evening’s soloist was violinist Arabella Steinbacher, a native of Munich who is by far considered one of the greatest musical talents in the world. Steinbacher has performed with some of the greatest international orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The evening included a standing ovation that prompted the Orchestra to play S. Moniuszko’s Mazurek from "Halka" and Sir Neville Marriner invited the project’s artistic director, Paweł Kotla, to the stage to conduct the encore.
The concert took place in Teatro Real, one of Spain’s esteemed concert halls, and put Poland in the spotlight in recent months, in large part in honour of the country's current EU Presidency. Karol Szymanowski's "King Roger"opera premiered at Teatro Real in April 2011, following the events which promoted the musician's oeuvre in Spain in 2010.
The ICO concert programme featured:
Tchaikovsky's "Wojewoda" Op. 78, a Symphonic Ballad
Szymanowski's Violin Concerto I, Op. 35
Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony in F-minor, Op. 36
ICO has toured through Gdańsk, Brussels, Stockholm, Kraków and Berlin. The Madrid concert was the second to last stop before the 11th of November concert in Warsaw, which marks the final stop for the youth orchestra.
Date: 8th of November, 2011
Venue: Teatro Real, Madrid
Organised by: Teatro Real, Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
For more information about the I, CULTURE Orchestra, see: orchestra.iam.pl.
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
For more on Szymanowski, see: www.karolszymanowski.pl