The tour, held in the year of the hundredth anniversary of Witold Lutosławski's birth, comprised concerts in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore and two cities in China (Hangzhou and Beijing). In Hong Kong and Korea the concerts were be part of prestigious music festivals: Hong Kong Arts Festival and Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF) respectively. The tour was highly successful, with well-attended concerts in each venue.
The Lutosławski Quartet comprising of Jakub Jakowicz (first violin), Marcin Markowicz (second violin), Artur Rozmyslowicz (viola) and Maciej Mlodawski (chello) was founded in 2007. It has appeared at many festivals, including: Wratislavia Cantans, Ensemble, Musica Polonica Nova, Jazztopad, Chain, the Lutoslawski Forum at the Polish National Philharmonic, the Klara Festival in Brussels, and the Ankara Music Festival in Turkey.
The quartet has given concerts with Bruno Canino, Paul Gulda, the Silesian Quartet, the Royal String Quartet, Tomasz Strahl, Ryszard Groblewski, an English oboist Nicholas Daniel, the world-renowned pianist and Chopin Competition prize-winner - Eugen Indijc, an extraordinary clarinetist Michel Lethiec, as well as outstanding jazz players such as Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor and Uri Caine. They have also performed Bohuslav Martinu's and Arnold Schoenberg's concertos for quartet and orchestra under Maestro Jacek Kaspszyk's baton. At the invitation of the Polish Institute in Brussels in December 2010, they appeared in the Brussels Opera with a concert closing the International Chopin Year. In 2012 the ensemble was invited at the Contemporary Music Festival in Greece. Together with the guest musicians - Krzysztof Jakowicz and Andrzej Bauer - they have recorded world's first album featuring Witold Lutosławski's chamber works for the CD Accord label. The CD received the 2009 Fryderyk Award nomination. In 2010 they recorded Karol Szymanowski's, Dmitri Shostakovich's and Marcin Markiewicz's quartets for Lutoslawski Quartet's debut solo album.
The Lutosławski Quartet performs contemporary music as well as recently commissioned pieces, and focuses on popularizing Polish music, including works by Lutosławski, Bacewicz, Szymanowski, and also compositions by one of the group members - Marcin Markowicz. An ensemble made up of versatile and open-minded artists, they blend the contemporary repertoire with classical, Romantic and jazz music. Their future plans include further recording projects that promote Polish music.
Programme of the concert in Hong Kong:
- Witold Lutosławski - String Quartet
- Karol Szymanowski - String Quartet No. 2
- Marcin Markowicz - String Quartet No. 3
Programme of the other concerts:
- Witold Lutosławski - String Quartet
- Karol Szymanowski - String Quartet No. 2
- Dmitri Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 8
- Marcin Markowicz - String Quartet No. 3
Programme of the Asian Tour:
- 21.03.2013 concert at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong
- 23.03.2013 concert at the Tongyeong Arts Center, Small Hall, as part of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, Republic of Korea
- 25.03.2013 concert at the Kioi Hall in Tokyo, Japan (concert organized by the Polish Institute in Tokyo)
- 27.03.2013 concert at the Concert Hall of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore (concert organized by CultureLink Singapore)
- 29.03.2013 concert at the Hangzhou Theater, Hangzhou, China (concert organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing)
- 30.03.2013 concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China (concert organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing)
Organizer: Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Partners: Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Beijing, Polish Institute in Tokyo, Wroclaw Philharmonic, CultureLink Singapore
See also: