The event is part of an ongoing project between Wrocław and Berlin in July through October this year, which presents a series of concerts and a special CD recording featuring the works of Szalonek and compositions inspired by his music.
The recordings, which began on the 1st of July at the Wrocław Philharmonic was performed by the avant garde Music Academy in Wrocław (the "Sound Factory" Orchestra) in collaboration with soloists.
A particular highlight of the project was a prestigious concert at the Uniwersitat der Kunste in Berlin. The date of the concert (12th of October) is the exact date of the composer's death. The concert programme included: a pastorale for oboe and orchestra, "Connections" for chamber orchestra, "Mutazioni" for orchestra, as performed by 'Sound Factory Orchestra' along with soloist Kazimierz Dawid, one of the most accomplished European oboe players today as well as one of Witold Szalonek's former collaborators.
Witold Szalonek often frequented the Wrocław Music Academy, leading composition workshops and student meetings. He was also an honorary member of the Composition Cathedral and held close ties with the academy's composition society. To quote Krzysztof Rottermund, Szalonek was: "one of the most accomplished, and without a doubt one of the most original Polish composers of the second half of the twentieth century". Szalonek specialised in experimenting with multi-sound spectrums played on wooden wind instruments.
The project has been put together in partnership with numerous Polish and German partners and is interdisciplinary in character through its linking of music and the visual arts. The initiative hopes to promote new artistic contacts between young artists in what is to be an international and cultural-artistic series of events.
Date: 12th of October, 2011
Venue: Joseph-Joachim-Konzertsaal, Berlin
Organisers: Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław
Partners: Europäische Oboen-Schule Polish Music Record Company, Andreas Behrendt - artistic director of the 'Lehniner-Sommermusiken' festival
Project cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Source: Adam Mickiewicz Institute