I, Culture Orchestra came to the Polish capital to give the final concert of its European tour at the National Philharmonic. The concert featured the youngest laureate of the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, Russia's Alena Baeva
The official orchestra of the Polish EU Presidency wrapped up its tour of the grandest concert halls of Europe with a performance at the National Philharmonic. Over the past few weeks, the youth orchestra has brought the brightest talents from Eastern Europe into the spotlight as a musical and political statement on unity within the EU and beyond.
The evening's programme, under the baton of conductor Paweł Kotla, the programme's artistic director, featured works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. Poland's First Lady Anna Komorowska was in attendance.
I, Culture Orchestra represents the official orchestra of the 2011 Polish EU Presidency. The endeavor was launched by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and aims to follow the example of such renowned ensembles as the European Union Youth Orchestra and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. It provides musical opportunity to young musicians in the Eastern European nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldavia and the Ukraine.
I, CULTURE Orchestra project coordinator Łukasz Strusiński said in an interview for the TriCity daily Gazeta:
The whole tour ends on the 11th of November at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. The date is a fortunate accident. My dream is for the orchestra to continue as the first artistic body of the Eastern Partnership - an institution that gives the decision-making responsibility to those involved in creating cultural policy and will be able to secure European Union financing."
The evening's soloist, Alena Baeva from Russia, is a prodigy of her generation, having began playing the violin at 5 years of age. At age 12, she won the First Prize and special Virtuoso Prize at the VII International competition in Kloster-Schontal (Germany). In October 2001, at the XII Internationa Henryk Winiawski Violin Competition in Poznań, Baeva took the First Prize, the Gold Medal and nine other prizes as one of the youngest musicians to ever sweep the competition.
On it's European Tour, the last stop before Warsaw was Teatro Real in Madrid, the ICO met with extraordinary praise - audiences littered with public figures and luminaries sought encores from the young musicians after each concert. The Madrid concert, attended by the ambassadors from the countries participating in the EU's Eastern Partnership programme, thanked the orchestra and its artistic director, Paweł Kotla, for his hard work and great success on the European tour.
The evening's programme was as follows:
Prokofiev - Scythian Suite, Op.20
Szymanowski - Symphony no. 4 (Symphonie concertante), Op. 60
Shostakovich - Symphony no. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
ICO has already toured through Gdansk, Brussels, Stockholm, Kraków, Berlin and Madrid. The 11th of November concert in Warsaw was the final stop for the youth orchestra.
I, CULTURE Orchestra was one of the six flagship projects of the Cultural Programme of the Poland's EU Council Presidency in 2011.
To view a video interview with Sir Neville Marriner, click here.
Date: 11th of November, 2011
Venue: National Philharmonic, Warsaw
Organised by: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
See the full I, CULTURE Orchestra tour programme
For more information about the I, CULTURE Orchestra, see: orchestra.iam.pl.