Entitled Breakthrough, the event commemorates the 70th birthday of one of Poland's foremost contemporary composers, celebrated for blending classical and modern influences with a remarkable talent for musical innovation.
The programme of the concert spans Szymański's prolific career, featuring pieces from the 1970s to the present. Highlights include Limerics, works for small ensembles and compositions with orchestral accompaniment.
The performance will feature musicians including countertenor Jan Jakub Monowid, harpsichordist Małgorzata Sarbak, violist and violinist Agnieszka Podłucka, violist Natalia Reichert, and flutist Łukasz Długosz, accompanied by the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Ukrainian-Polish conductor Yaroslav Shemet.
British musicologist Adrian Thomas, in his book Polish Music Since Szymanowski—published in Britain in 2005 and recently translated into Polish—describes Szymański as one of the most influential postwar composers.
Thomas writes of Szymański: "Like his music, he remains something of an enigma, choosing a reclusive existence in preference to a sustained organisational or educational role in Polish musical life."
An honorary member of the Polish Composers’ Union, Szymański has won numerous accolades, including the Silver Gloria Artis Medal for Cultural Merit.
The all-Szymański concert is one of the concluding events of the Eufonie International Festival of Central and Eastern European Music.
(mk/gs)