In the course of the ongoing 60th National Festival of Folk Bands and Singers in southeastern Poland's Kazimierz nad Wisłą, a gold Gloria Artis medal for Merit to Culture was awarded to Maria Baliszewska - an ethnomusicologist and journalist who founded Polish Radio's Folk Culture Centre in 1994.
Maria Baliszewska has been associated with Polish Radio since 1973 - when right after graduating from the University of Warsaw she began working in the Folk Music Editorial Office. Radio and folk culture became her passions in 1968, during an ethnographic camp she took part in.
Baliszewska helmed Polish Radio's Folk Culture Centre, and previously the Folk Music Editorial Office, since 1982 - with a three-year hiatus when the Editorial Office was disbanded during martial law.
Since 1998, Maria Baliszewska has been European Broadcasting Union's coordinator for traditional and folk music. She also organized two EBU folk festivals - in Zakopane in 1995, and in Gdańsk in 2005.
In 1998 Baliszewska initiated Polish Radio's "Nowa Tradycja" Folk Festival (and competition), which gradually grew to become the domain's most important event of the year, annually giving birth to Poland's rising folk music stars.
Another brainchild of Maria Baliszewska is Polish Radio's "Music of Sources" album series - a collection of folk music compilations (some of which she curated herself) that will ultimately comprise 25 LPs presenting the treasure-rich landscape of Poland's traditional music.
Last but not least - Baliszewska has authored thousands of shows for Polish Radio on ethnic, traditional, and folk themes - and an equal number of invaluable field, festival, and studio recordings, documenting Poland's traditional music.
The numerous awards previously received by Maria Baliszewska include the Golden Microphone (1993), the Culture Foundation's special award (1998), the Zygmunt Gloger medal (2003), the 2007 Minister of Culture and National Heritage award for the promotion of culture, and the Oskar Kolberg Award (2014).
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Source: PAP, IAR