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Co-musical Director, Founder of Les Arts Florissants.
William Christie, harpsichordist, conductor, musicologist, and teacher, is the inspiration behind one of the most exciting musical adventures of the last 40 years. A pioneer in the rediscovery of Baroque music, he has introduced the repertoire of 17th- and 18th-century France to a very wide audience across the globe. Born in Buffalo, and educated at Harvard and Yale, William Christie has lived in France since 1971. The turning point in his career came in 1979, when he founded Les Arts Florissants.
As director of this vocal and instrumental ensemble, William Christie soon made his mark as both a musician and man of the theatre, in the concert hall and the opera house. Major public recognition came in 1987 with the production of Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique in Paris.
From Charpentier to Rameau, through Couperin, Mondonville, William Christie is the uncontested master of tragédie-lyrique as well as opéra-ballet, and is just as comfortable with the French motet as with music of the court. But his affection for French music does not preclude him from exploring other European repertoires as Monteverdi, Rossi, Scarlatti, Landi, Purcell, Handel, Mozart, Haydn or Bach.
Notable among his most recent operatic work are Handel’s Jephtha at the Opéra de Paris and Ariodante at the Wiener Staatsoper, The Beggar’s Opera on European tour and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival, Rameau’s Platée at Theater an der Wien, Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore at the Opéra Comique and Handel’s Partenope on international tour.
As a guest conductor, William Christie often appears alongside the Berliner Philharmoniker or the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at opera festivals such as Glyndebourne or opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Zurich Opernhaus, or the Opéra National de Lyon.
His extensive discography includes more than 100 recordings. The most recent ones – Bach’s B Minor Mass; Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (CD/DVD); “N’espérez plus, mes yeux”; “Générations: Senaillé – Leclair”; Platée – were issued by harmonia mundi in the “Les Arts Florissants” collection.
Wishing to develop further his work as a teacher, in 2002 William Christie created Le Jardin des Voix, Les Arts Florissant’s biennial baroque Academy for young singers, now established at Thiré in Vendée. Since 2007 he has been artist in residence at the Juilliard School in New York, where he gives master classes twice a year. In 2021, he launches with Les Arts Florissants the first “Arts Flo Masterclasses” for young professional musicians at the Quartier des Artistes in Thiré (Vendée, Pays de la Loire – France).
In 2012, he created the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie in his own gardens, located in the French village of Thiré in the Vendée, where he welcomes every summer young musicians from the Juilliard School and singers of the Jardin des Voix along with the musicians and singers of Les Arts Florissants.
William Christie has bequeathed his real-estate assets to the Foundation Les Arts Florissants–William Christie created in 2018.
In November 2008, William Christie was elected to France’s Académie des Beaux-Arts, and gave his official inaugural speech under the dome of the Institut de France in January 2010.
His projects for the 2022-23 season include: the show Molière and His Music for Molière’s 400th birthday; Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas directed by Blanca Li at the Teatros del Canal, Barcelona’s Liceu, and the Opéra Royal de Versailles; a cycle of exceptional concerts of French music for Christmas at Fontevraud; duo recitals with violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte or harpsichordist Justin Taylor; Haydn’s Seasons; Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato; Charpentier’s music for the Nativity and for Holy Week; the fourth part of his series of “Airs sérieux et à boire”; and concert programs with great soloists (Véronique Gens and Lea Desandre, Carlo Vistoli and Hugh Cutting).
Born in 1986 composer, conductor and educator. He completed composition with honours in the class of Prof. Stanislaw Moryto (2010) and he graduated in the field of symphonic and opera conducting (also diploma with honours) in the class of Prof. Antoni Wit (2011) at the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. In 2016 he got doctorate and in 2020 habilitation.
Among his achievements are many awards won in various music competitions. He is the winner of the 1st award in the competition in the John Paul II 1st Composers’ Competition in Warsaw (2007), the 3rd award in the 4th International Composers’Competition “Musica Sacra” in Czestochowa (2008) and a distinction in the Tadeusz Baird All-Poland Competition for Young Composers in Warsaw (2010). He was a semi-finalist in Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London (2014). He is a winner of Opera composing competition organizing by Great Theatre in Lodz, in which chairman of the jury was Krzysztof Penderecki (2017). His opera “Czlowiek z Manufaktury” was performed in February 2019 with a great success.
He was assistant conductor in National Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra to Antoni Wit (2012/13) and Jacek Kaspszyk (2013/14).
As a conductor he is regularly invited by main polish orchestras including Warsaw Philharmonic, National Polish Radio Orchestra in Katowice, Krakow Philharmonic, Silesian Philharmonic, Polish Radio Orchestra, Sinfonia Juventus, Baltic Philharmonic, Polish Chamber Orchestra Sopot and many others.
During 55. Warsaw Autumn festival he conducted one of the symphonic concerts with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (2012). After this concert, he got special invitation to conduct Final Concert in next festival (September 2013), doing polish premiere (second world performance) of extremely demanding new piece by Thomas Adès Totentanz.
In his repertoire are also operatic pieces. He has already prepared and conducted premiere stage performance of Mozart’s opera Cosi fan tutte (2011), and Don Giovanni (2014) in Warsaw Chamber Opera. He was musical director of Tchaikovsky’s Onegin which was performed in Great Theatre in Warsaw (2017). He conducts regularly in Great Theatre in Lodz operas: Strauss’s Ziguenerbaron and Pucini’s Turandot.
From 2017 Rafal Janiak is an artistic director of Chopin University Chamber Orchestra. From many achievements of this young ensemble is worth to mention last orchestra tour in China, on which they play under his baton over 20 concerts (July 2019), several published CDs, which the last is nominated to “Fryderyki 2021” award.
Currently he is a lecturer at the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, on which from 2020 he hold a position of dean of Symphonic and Operatic Conducting department.
Artistic Director of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2013-2015 he served as Music Director of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, where, in addition to regular symphonic concerts he prepared several opera productions (Verdi’s La Traviata, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Bizet’s Carmen). He also worked as Associate Conductor of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice (2009-2015). In 2004-2008 he served as Associate Conductor of the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, where he prepared and conducted Carmen, Verdi’s Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Aida, Otello, and Falstaff (with Bryn Terfel in the title role), Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Puccini’s La Boheme, and Lehar’s The Merry Widow (recorded for the BBC).
In July 2015 he conducted a world premiere concert version of Zaid Jabri new opera City of Salt at Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London.
In 2019 he prepared and conducted at Polish National Opera in Warsaw first ever polish production of Benjamin Britten opera Billy Budd and in 2023 he was invited back to conduct premiere of new production of Benjamin Britten Peter Grimes.
In December 2011, he conducted Szymanowski’s King Roger with the National Ukrainian Opera in Kiev as the closing event of the cultural programme of Poland’s presidency in the European Council.
He has worked as guest conductor with numerous orchestras in Poland and abroad, including the Warsaw Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, most of Polish symphony orchestras, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Orchestre National Capitole de Toulouse, Foreign tours have also taken him to France, Germany, Switzerland (a gala concert in tribute to Mstislav Rostropovich, with Ivan Monighetti, Sol Gabetta and Misha Maisky), Great Britain, Armenia, Italy, South Korea and the Persian Gulf countries. He has worked closely with the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk (Strauss’s Salome and Mozart’s Die Zauberfloete, Shostakovich/Meyer The Gamblers, Fleichman’s Rotschild’s Violin) and the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz (Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust), Poznań Opera (Aida).
From 2016 until February 2022 he was guest conductor at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, where he conducted performances of Donizetti Don Pasquale, Weinberg The Idiot, Tchaikovsky Eugene Oniegin, Schostakovich Katerina Izmailova. He ended his artistic relation with statement after barbarian, russian military agression over Ukraine.
Earlier in his career, in 1998-2003, he worked at the National Opera in Warsaw. He has made numerous recordings for radio and television, including the first ever recording of Szymanowski’s operetta – Lottery for a Husband (with the National Polish Radio SO) and live recording of King Roger (with Warsaw’s National Opera). His recording of Szymanowski’s opera Hagith with Polish Radio SO received prestigious polish music award “Fryderyk” for “The best opera recording in 2020”.
Michał Klauza is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin Music University in Warsaw, where he studied conducting with Ryszard Dudek. He developed his skills as a postgraduate student of Ilya Musin at the Rimski-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg and at international courses given by Kurt Redel (Rome, 1996).
He pursues a teaching career as a member of conducting faculty at the Fryderyk Chopin Music University in Warsaw.
He was born in 1972 in Gdynia. In 1996, he graduated with honours from the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw in the symphony and opera conducting class of Prof. Bogusław Madey.
From January 1997 to April 2011, he was the chief and artistic director of the Białystok Philharmonic (since 2005 the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic). From September 2016 to September 2019, he was the director of the Wrocław Opera.
The artist is involved in intense concert activities – he co-operates with leading opera houses and philharmonic orchestras in Poland. He also performs on many stages around the world, e.g. in the USA, Great Britain, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Germany, Sweden, France, Belgium and Portugal.
He is also the artistic director and conductor of the “Filharmonia” Warsaw Chamber Orchestra and a guest conductor of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw. He was on a number of foreign concert tours with the Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic. In August 2005, together with pianist Stanisław Drzewiecki, he performed in the European Parliament in Brussels in the concert inaugurating the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Solidarity movement.
In June 2006, he conducted Krzysztof Penderecki’s Utrenja at the Smol’nyy Sobor in St. Petersburg with the participation of soloists and Russian choirs. In 2009, he performed in the Berwald Hall in Stockholm and in the headquarters of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In December 2009, under his baton, the Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic performed concerts in Great Britain, where, as part of the celebrations of the Polish Year “Polska! Year,” it performed in London’s Cadogan Hall as well as at the Royal College of Music.
The artist often includes Polish music in his concert programmes, e.g. works of lesser-known artists creating in exile. His recordings of compositions by Alexandre Tansman and Zygmunt Stojowski were very well received both in Poland (nominations for a Fryderyk) and abroad (the album featuring pieces by Stojowski received the prestigious Gramophone Editor’s Choice award in February 2009). In April 2012, he received a Fryderyk for an album with works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Piano Concerto and Polish Fantasy.
Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski boasts a rich recording output, i.e. over 25 CDs/DVDs. He has also made a number of radio, television and film music recordings (including by M. Zieliński, W. Pawlik, J.A.P. Kaczmarek, Z. Preisner). The other area of his interests and artistic activities is solo singing – he graduated from the Academy of Music in Łódź under the supervision of Prof. Leonard Andrzej Mróz.
The artist has won numerous awards and distinctions – he has received, among others, the “Ad Astra” award of the Minister of Culture for young, talented creators of culture (2001), the Silver Cross of Merit for his contribution to the development of national culture and professional achievements (2004) and the Silver Medal “For Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis” (2006).
In 2007, at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts; in 2010 – the degree of Habilitated Doctor. In October 2012, he began to work as a professor at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk, where he runs a symphony and opera conducting class. In February 2021, by the decision of the President of the Republic of Poland, he received the title of Professor of Art.
On June 4, 2014, in the presence of, among others, President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski and President of the United States of America Barack Obama and other distinguished guests, during a gala concert at the Castle Square in Warsaw, summarizing the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of Freedom, he conducted the world premiere of the Cantata “Freedom” by Włodek Pawlik. In November 2014, he conducted the premiere performance of the ballet 1914 at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, and in February 2015, at the Wrocław Opera, the premiere of Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
In April 2016, he received another Fryderyk, this time in the category “Album of the Year – Contemporary Music” for Paweł Łukaszewski’s Symphony of Providence. In November 2016, he again conducted a ballet premiere at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, Chopiniana/Bolero/Chroma, featuring, among others, the piece Chroma by Joby Talbot in the choreography of Wayne McGregor, originally staged at the Royal Opera House in London.
In September 2018, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage appointed him to the newly inaugurated Council for Artistic Education as one of the 13 representatives of various creative communities related to artistic education.
In November 2018, he was nominated for the Wrocław Music Award 2018 in the category “Classical Music” for a “masterful performance of Paweł Łukaszewski’s oratorio Via Crucis at the Wrocław Opera.”
A former choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, Hugh Cutting is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music
where he was a member of the International Opera Studio. On graduating, he was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal,
presented by King Charles III. In the autumn of 2021, Hugh became the first countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrier Award
and is the first countertenor to become a BBC New Generation Artist (2022-24).
In the 2021/22 season Hugh was a member of Les Arts Florissants 10th Jardin des Voix and received critical acclaim for his
portrayal of Arsace in Handel’s Partenope conducted by William Christie. Further highlights included his Carnegie Hall debut
singing Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of St Luke’s and Bernard Labadie; Refugee in Dove’s Flight and
Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda with the RCM International Opera Studio, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater at the London Handel
Festival with Adrian Butterfield; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Southbank Sinfonia; Tavener’s The Hidden Face with the
City of London Sinfonia; Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Bach’s Geist und Seele
with the Oxford Bach Soloists; Handel’s Messiah with Instruments of Time and Truth and Edward Higginbottom; Purcell
Odes for a Queen with The English Concert and Kristian Bezuidenhout, and a performance of Bach and Handel arias with
the Hanover Band and Laurence Cummings.
This season Hugh makes his debut at Opernhaus Zürich singing Monteverdi madrigals in Christian Spuck’s ballet setting.
Upcoming concert engagements include multiple appearances at the Wigmore Hall alongside Iestyn Davies and Ensemble
Guadagni, La Nuova Musica, The English Concert, and The Sixteen; a world premiere with the BBC Philharmonic and an
appearance at the Oxford Lieder Festival; Handel’s Messiah with The Sixteen and Harry Christophers and with the City of
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Adrian Lucas; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras and
John Eliot Gardiner; Bach’s B Minor Mass with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Vaclav Luks; Bach’s St
Matthew Passion with the Finnish Radio Orchestra and Nick Collon and in a European tour with Collegium Vocale Gent
and Philippe Herreweghe, as well as multiple projects with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie including Polinesso in
Handel’s Ariodante and Arsace Partenope.
Song is central to Hugh’s ambition, and he seeks to expand the possibilities of countertenor repertoire in this sphere. In
2022/23 he appears in recital at the Wigmore Hall, Ryedale Festival, and at the Thames Recital Series with ‘Untethered’, a
programme based on Michael A. Singer’s book ‘The Untethered Soul’, which centres around the concept of liberation,
namely from the thoughts and perspectives that disturb our daily lives. Many of these works will be recorded as part of
Hugh’s involvement in the BBC New Generation Artist scheme for later broadcast on Radio 3. He frequently collaborates
with pianist George Ireland, lutenist Danny Murphy and composer Piers Connor Kennedy both in recital and concert.
Hugh works regularly with SoundVoice UK and composer Hannah Conway, most recently performing at Snape Maltings
and King’s Place alongside Roderick Williams and Lucy Crowe in a project exploring identity and voice loss in terminal
health conditions.
He has recorded Purcell Royal Odes and Birthday Odes for Queen Mary with The King’s Consort and Robert King alongside
Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson, and Lamento with Iestyn Davies and Fretwork for Signum Classics.
“ The staggering, joyful artistry of Joyce DiDonato reminds us that in any generation there are a few giants. Joyce is not only a great, brave and inspiring artist – one of the finest singers of our time- but she is also a transformative presence in the arts. Those who know her repertoire are in awe of her gifts, and those who know nothing of it are instantly engaged. Joyce sings and the world is suddenly brighter. She compels us to listen actively, to hear things anew.” Jake Heggie, Gramophone
Multi-Grammy Award winner and 2018 Olivier Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, Kansas-born Joyce DiDonato entrances audiences across the globe, and has been proclaimed “perhaps the most potent female singer of her generation” by The New Yorker. With a voice “nothing less than 24-carat gold” according to The Times, Joyce has soared to the top of the industry both as a performer and a fierce advocate for the arts, gaining international prominence in operas by Handel and Mozart, as well as through her varied and highly acclaimed discography. She is also widely celebrated for the bel canto roles of Rossini and Donizetti.
Joyce’s exciting 2022/23 season includes further touring of her newly released album EDEN around Europe and the USA with Il Pomo d’Oro and Maxim Emelyanychev, Virginia Wolf in The Met’s world-premiere production of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’s The Hours, Patricia Westertord in Tod Machover’s Overstory Overture at Alice Tully Hall in New York and Seoul Arts Center in South Korea and a residency at Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Recent highlights have included European tours of her baroque-inspired programme My Favourite Things with Il Pomo d’Oro, in cities including Edinburgh, Salzburg, Bucharest, Barcelona, Antwerp and Lisbon, as well as her Winterreise and In My Solitude recital programmes with pianist and long-time collaboratorCraig Terry. Joyce also returned to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Irene in Handel’s Theodora alongside Julia Bullock and Jakub Józef Orliński.
In opera, Joyce’s recent roles includeAgrippina at the Metropolitan Opera and in a new production at the Royal Opera House, Didon Les Troyens at the Vienna State Opera; Sesto, Cendrillon and Adalgisa Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, Agrippina in concert with Il Pomo d’Oro under Maxim Emelyanchev; Sister Helen Dead Man Walking at the Teatro Real Madrid and London’s Barbican Centre; Semiramide at the Bavarian State Opera and Royal Opera House, and Charlotte Werther at the Royal Opera.
Much in demand on the concert and recital circuit, Joyce has held residencies at Carnegie Hall and at London’s Barbican Centre, toured extensively in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia and appeared as guest soloist at the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms. Other concert highlights include the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Accademia Santa Cecilia Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra USA under Sir Antonio Pappano.
An exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics/Erato, Joyce’s expansive discography includes Les Troyens which in 2018 won the Recording (Complete Opera) category at the International Opera Awards, the Opera Award at the BBC Music Magazine Awards and Gramophone’s Recording of the Year, and Handel’s Agrippina which won the Gramophone Opera Recording and Limelight Opera Recording of the Year awards in 2020. Joyce’s other albums include her celebrated Winterreise with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Songplay, In War & Peace which won the 2017 Best Recital Gramophone Award, Stella di Napoli, her GrammyAward-winning Diva Divo and Drama Queens. Other honours include the Gramophone Artist of the Year and Recital of the Year awards, and an induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.
Lester Lynch has become recognized for his charismatic portrayals and commanding voice as he takes on some of Verdi’s most important characters with rave reviews, from Macbeth to Rigoletto to Simon Boccanegra. Extending his repertoire far beyond the great Verdi roles, he is also known as an expert in contemporary opera with his performances of Dallapiccola’s Il Prigioniero, Busoni’s Doktor Faust and Nico Muhly’s The Glitch, garnering many accolades.
Lynch made his debut at the renowned Teatro alla Scala singing the role of Crown in Porgy and Bess and at the Royal Opera House as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Other appearances on the world’s major stages include Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, Seattle Opera, the Volksoper in Vienna, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera and San Francisco Opera.
Most recently, Mr. Lynch performed the Forester in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with English National Opera and made his debut as Wotan in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Nashville Opera. He made his film debut in November 2021 as Merrivale in Gordon Getty’s new opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, based on the popular 1934 novella by James Hilton.
Upcoming highlights include the title character in Verdi’s Nabucco, a return to the role of Wotan and concerts with Sir Simon Rattle.
Mr. Lynch’s recording work is featured on Pentatone, including performances as Iago in Verdi’s Otello, Scarpia in Tosca, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Michele in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Germont in La Traviata and his debut solo album, “On My Journey Now.”
For more information about Lester, please visit www.lesterlynch.com.
One of the most original and versatile musicians on the Polish music scene. He plays all keyboard instruments, composes, conducts, produces, arranges, educates and curates. His activities include a wide range of styles. He is known for his groundbreaking crossover projects and for pushing the boundaries between high and entertainment art.
Masecki’s first passion are jazz and improvised music. In recent years, his main project has been the Młynarski-Masecki Jazz Band, an orchestra he runs together with Jan Młynarski; it presents Polish entertainment music from the interwar period in new, original arrangements. In addition, Masecki has his own trio performing original music. He is also involved in various duos with, among others, Jerzy Rogiewicz, Kaja Draksler, Barry Guy, Alexander Hawkins and, in the past, with Tomasz Stańko.
As a classically trained pianist, Masecki regularly takes up the theme of Europe’s musical legacy, interpreting it with a rare combination of ease and erudition. In September 2022, his album featuring piano concertos by Bach and Mozart – recorded with the MACV Baroque orchestra – was released. His previous CDs include Chopin’s Nocturnes, Beethoven’s Last Sonatas and Scarlatti’s Sonatas.
Masecki is also a conductor. He co-operates with the Capella Cracoviensis on the monumental cycle “Complete Haydn Symphonies” and also conducts his own compositions. In December 2022, the premiere of his Symphony No. 3, written for the Estonian Parnu Chamber Orchestra, took place. He has established the Palais Royale Orchestra, which with he performed the world premiere of the original version of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in the Concert Studio of Polish Radio. His smallest ensemble is the nonet Polonezy, presenting an original set of Polish national dances.
Masecki also curates the capital’s musical life. He organizes periodical events at the Studio Theatre in Warsaw during which he introduces the audience to the world of classical music in an accessible and engaging way. So far, “Dżemsesje klasyczne” [Classical Jam Sessions] have been held – the jazz jam session format transferred to the realm of classical music. A year earlier, it was “Transkrypcje” [Transcriptions] – weekly concerts presenting complete Beethoven symphonies in chamber arrangements. The latest cycle is called “Barok Barok” [Baroque Baroque] – chamber concerts recalling lesser-known Baroque music in a relaxed, lounge atmosphere.
Masecki also composes music for film and theatre. In 2022, he received an Eagle (Polish Film Award) for music for the film Powrót do tamtych dni [Back to Those Days]. He was an arranger, composer and music consultant for the film Cold War by Paweł Pawlikowski. He worked on Agnieszka Holland’s film Mr. Jones, Krzysztof Skonieczny’s series Blinded by the Light and Olga Chajdas’1983. Earlier, he had created the soundtrack for the film Obce niebo [Strange Heaven] by Dariusz Gajewski and for Fuck For Forrest by Michał Marczak.
The list is topped with Masecki as a teacher. Every year, he runs an improvisation class at the Ensemble Festival.
An outstanding pianist and composer who brought about an unprecedented mental and stylistic revolution in Polish jazz.
He put difficult jazz phrases, complicated improvisations, the melodies of jazz standards and the subtlety of composition into a specific kind of jazz that became ‘Leszek Możdżer’s jazz’ of vibrant expression; at the same time, Możdżer does not strive for effusiveness towards listeners, commercialism or show. Jazz imagination, an interesting idea for improvisation, the subtlety of Chopin’s etudes and mazurkas, ‘Komeda’ inspirations – in his music, they all create a new tone colour in jazz piano chamber music.
The musician belongs to one of the most interesting phenomena of Polish jazz in recent decades. Initially, he was associated with the ‘yass’ formation Miłość. Then he performed in many jazz configurations, e.g. in the bands of Emil Kowalski, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Tomasz Stańko, Buddy de Franco, David Friesen, Archie Shepp, Michał Urbaniak, Adam Pierończyk or Arthur Blythe. The pianist’s extensive discography features over a hundred albums implemented as his own projects or in co-operation with outstanding artists. He records and performs with such musicians as David Gilmour, Naná Vasconcelos, Marcus Miller, John Scofield, Tan Dun or Pat Metheny. Concerts, recordings and his co–operation with composer Zbigniew Preisner brought Możdżer great popularity and recognition. Their joint projects such as ‘Requiem for my Friend’ and ‘10 Easy Pieces for Piano Solo’ proved to be unparalleled artistic events.
The album Impressions On Chopin (recorded in 1999) is already part of the canon of the recordings inspired by the output of the brilliant Polish composer. Leszek Możdżer also works with Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (recordings for the Oscar-winning score for the film Finding Neverland and the album Kaczmarek by Możdżer) as well as composes music for film and theatre. The pianist is most at ease in solo projects and in his own trio with Lars Danielsson and Zohar Fresco (the album The Time recorded in 2005 reached the Diamond status, while Between Us And The Light (2006), Live (2007) and Polska (2013) – the Double Platinum status). In 2017, he recorded an album with Holland Baroque entitled Earth Particles. 2021 saw the release of Just Ignore It, implemented with Lars Danielsson, Zohar Fresco and Holland Baroque. Możdżer is also the artistic director of the Enter Enea Festival.
For the score for Maciej Pieprzyca’s film entitled Ikar. Legenda Mietka Kosza [Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz], Leszek Możdżer won in the category Best Music at the 44th Gdynia Festival of Polish Feature Films, the Orły 2020 Film Award, an award for the best Polish Soundtrack of the Year 2019 awarded by 50 music and film experts as part of the Film Music Festival in Cracow, an award of the 9th Grand Prix Komeda Film Festival and a Fryderyk in the category Album of the Year – Illustrative Music. The film score was also awarded with: MocArty RMF Classic, Olśnienia Onetu, Empik Bestseller nomination and a Special Award of the 34th Tarnów Film Award.
Leszek Możdżer thus manifests himself as a creator of a new style in jazz music; a style in which the sound and atmosphere are built with impression and mood and a unique performing style. Perhaps this is why the pianist is considered an eloquent jazz creator of the young generation: a sophisticated artistic proposal, composed of musical fascinations and discoveries of Leszek Możdżer – the most popular jazz musician in Poland today.
© Dionizy Piątkowski author of the Polish Jazz Encyclopaedia
Graduate of the Academy of Music in Cracow in Composition (2002). From 2005 to 2012, member of the Levity band; he recorded three albums with them: Levity (2009), Chopin Shuffle (2010) and Afternoon Delights (2011). From 2009 to 2011, drummer for Pink Freud.
In 2013, together with Igor Nikiforow, he founded the Jerz Igor project – its aim is to perform original music for children (Mała Płyta – 2014; Zimą – 2015). Since 2010, he has been co-operating with Marcin Masecki, among others, in the Ragtajmy duo, Marcin Masecki Jazz Trio, in the ensembles Profesjonalizm, Polonezy, V/TLD or Młynarski-Masecki Jazz Band. As an improviser, he has performed with such artists as Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Toshinori Kondo, DJ LENAR, Wojtek Mazolewski, Tomasz Duda or Paweł Szamburski. He has worked with Gabriela Kulka and Maja Kleszcz. As a conductor, he made his debut with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra performing Zbigniew Wodecki’s debut album with the Mitch&Mitch ensemble (2015). Author of film music (New World, dir. Elżbieta Benkowska, Łukasz Ostalski, Michał Wawrzecki, 2015; Hangover, dir. Maciej Buchwald, 2015; A Worried Man, dir. Maciej Buchwald, 2017; documentary Zhalanash, dir. Marcin Sauter, 2017; The Mute, dir. Bartek Konopka, 2018; series Mały Grand Hotel, dir. Bartek Konopka, 2019) and theatre music (The Coming Spring, dir. Natalia Korczakowska, 2015; The Doll, dir. Aneta Groszyńska 2015; The Jew – TV theatre, dir. Aneta Groszyńska-Liweń, 2015; Hunger, dir. Aneta Groszyńska-Liweń, 2016; Messiahs, dir. Aneta Groszyńska-Liweń, 2018). In 2019, he composed a musical fairy tale for children’s solo voices, choir and symphony orchestra entitled King Matt the First, based on the novel by Janusz Korczak, adapted by Grzegorz Uzdański, on commission of the POLIN Museum. In the same year, he created music for the play Greta and the Last Whale, directed by Maciej Podstawny, and for the plays The Maids of Wilko (dir. Agnieszka Glińska) and The Butterfly (dir. Marcin Liber), in co-operation with Igor Nikiforow. He is also the author of music for the audio series Czarny Romans, directed by Michał Marczak. He is currently working on music for the feature film The City, directed by Marcin Sauter, the feature film Triple Trouble, directed by Marta Karwowska, and a new crime series by Bartek Konopka.
An ensemble of singers and instrumentalists specialized in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments, Les Arts Florissants are renowned the world over. Founded in 1979 by the Franco-American harpsichordist and conductor William Christie, the Ensemble, named for a short opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, has played a pioneering role in the revival of a Baroque repertoire that had long been neglected (including the rediscovery of countless treasures in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France). Today that repertoire is widely performed and admired: not only French music from the reign of Louis XIV, but also more generally European music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 2007, the Ensemble is also conducted by the British tenor Paul Agnew, who is appointed Musical Codirector of Les Arts Florissants in 2019.
Each season Les Arts Florissants give around 100 concerts and opera performances in France—at the Philharmonie de Paris, where they are artists in residence, the Théâtre de Caen, the Opéra Comique, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Château de Versailles, as well as at numerous festivals—and are an active ambassador for French culture abroad, being regularly invited to New York, London, Edinburgh, Brussels, Vienna, Salzburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Moscow, and elsewhere.
Since the 1987 production of Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique in Paris, which was triumphantly revived in May 2011, it has been on the opera stage that Les Arts Florissants have enjoyed their greatest successes. Notable productions include works by Rameau (Les Indes galantes, Hippolyte et Aricie, Les Boréades, Les Paladins, Platée), Lully and Charpentier (Médée, David et Jonathas, Les Arts florissants, Armide), Handel (Orlando, Acis and Galatea, Semele, Alcina, Serse, Hercules, L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato), Purcell (King Arthur, Dido and Aeneas, The Fairy Queen), Mozart (The Magic Flute, Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Monteverdi (his opera trilogy), but also by composers who are less frequently played, such as Landi (Il Sant’Alessio), Cesti (Il Tito), Campra (Les Fêtes vénitiennes) and Hérold (Zampa).
For their theater productions, Les Arts Florissants have called on the talents of some of the greatest stage directors, including Jean-Marie Villégier, Robert Carsen, Adrian Noble, Andrei Serban, Luc Bondy, Deborah Warner, David McVicar, Claus Guth and Jérôme Deschamps and Macha Makeïeff, as well as on renowned choreographers such as Béatrice Massin, Ana Yepes, Jirí Kylián, Blanca Li, Trisha Brown, Robyn Orlin, José Montalvo, Françoise Denieau and Dominique Hervieu.
Les Arts Florissants enjoy an equally high profile in the concert hall, as illustrated by their many acclaimed concert or semi-staged performances of operas and oratorios (Rameau’s Zoroastre, Anacréon and Les Fêtes d’Hébé, Charpentier’s Actéon and La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers, Campra’s Idoménée and Mozart’s Idomeneo, Montéclair’s Jephté, Rossi’s L’Orfeo and Handel’s Giulio Cesare with Cecilia Bartoli as well as his Messiah, Theodora, Susanna, Jephtha and Belshazzar), their secular and sacred chamber-music programs (petits motets by Lully and Charpentier, madrigals by Monteverdi and Gesualdo, court airs by Lambert, hymns by Purcell, among others) and their approach to large-scale works (particularly the grands motets by Rameau, Mondonville, Campra and Charpentier, as well as Handel’s Messiah and J.S. Bach’s Matthew’s and John’s Passion).
The Ensemble has produced an impressive discography: nearly 100 recordings (CD and DVD) and its own collection in collaboration with harmonia mundi directed by William Christie and Paul Agnew.
In recent years, Les Arts Florissants have launched several education programs for young musicians. The most emblematic is the Academy of Le Jardin des Voix: created in 2002, it is held every two years and has already brought a substantial number of new singers into the limelight. The Arts Flo Juniors program, launched in 2007, enables conservatory students to join the orchestra and chorus for the length of a production, from the first day of rehearsals up to the final performance. And then there is the partnership between William Christie, Les Arts Florissants and New York’s Juilliard School of Music, which since 2007 has allowed a fruitful artistic exchange between the U.S. and France. Launched in 2021, a yearly program of masterclasses in Thiré (Vendée, Pays de la Loire) comes to complete this panel of programs with short working sessions led by William Christie and Paul Agnew, to help young professionals improve their skills.
Les Arts Florissants also organize numerous events aimed at building new audiences. Linked to each year’s concert program, they are designed for both amateur musicians and non-musicians, adults as much as children.
In 2012, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants created the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie, in partnership with the Conseil départemental de la Vendée. An annual event, the festival brings together artists from Les Arts Florissants, pupils from the Juilliard School and finalists from Le Jardin des Voix for concerts and promenades musicales in the gardens created by William Christie at Thiré, in the Vendée. In addition to the festival, Les Arts Florissants are working with the endowment fund Les Jardins de Musique de William Christie towards the creation of a permanent cultural venue in Thiré. In 2017, following a decision by the French Ministry of Culture, Les Arts Florissants and the endowment fund « Les Jardins de Musique de William Christie » have been awarded the national label « Centre culturel de Rencontre », which distinguishes projects associating creation, patrimony and transmission. In 2018, Les Arts Florissants become the Foundation Les Arts Florissants – William Christie.
Les Arts Florissants receives financial support from the State — the Regional Direction of Cultural Affairs (DRAC), the Département de la Vendée and the Région Pays de la Loire. The Selz Foundation is their Principal Sponsor. Aline Foriel-Destezet and the American Friends of Les Arts Florissants are Major Sponsors. Les Arts Florissants has been ensemble in residence at the Philharmonie de Paris and is recognized as a “Heritage Site for Culture”.
Producer and music journalist, Artistic Director of the Regional Broadcast Station of the Polish Radio in Gdańsk – Radio Gdańsk S.A., originator and director of the Gdańsk Music Festival. Graduate of the Academy of Music in Gdańsk in the piano class of Prof. Zbigniew Śliwiński. He also completed postgraduate studies at the Warsaw School of Economics. Prizewinner and currently also juror of international radio competitions, e.g. the Shanghai International Radio Music Festival or the Deutsche Welle World Music Award.
In addition to his radio activities and his constant co-operation with other media and organizers of the most important artistic events in Poland, he is also involved in the animation of culture in the region, for which he has been recognized with, among others, an award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the Pomeranian Artistic Award (twice), the “Splendor Gedanensis” award and the Mściwój Medal.
Announcer, media and television personality, actor, journalist and TV presenter. He was born in Spain and spent his childhood there. When he was 12, he moved with his family to Poland. He gained recognition thanks to the Europa da się lubić tv show. Participant of many entertainment programmes. He has been one of the hosts of the LOTTO draw for years.
Author of the book Mój Madryt. He developed his passion for writing as editor-in-chief of the Face and Look magazine. Currently, he works with Radio dla Ciebie, where he hosts his own programmes, i.e. Życie jak w Madrycie and Przychodnia.
As an announcer, he uses the experience gained over the years. He willingly takes up new challenges and hosts various types of events: conferences, galas, fashion shows, concerts or beauty contests.
Deputy director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic, musicologist, graduate of the A. Mickiewicz University in Poznań; he also completed postgraduate studies in Culture Management. Associated with the Philharmonic since 1991. He has co-operated with the PR and TV Radio Station in Bydgoszcz (currently Radio PiK); since 2012, he has been lecturing at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. Director of the 5th International Paderewski Piano Competition and of the International Percussion Workshops in Bydgoszcz. He has numerous publications to his credit; he has translated, among others, A New Dictionary of Music by A. Jacobs. Editor of series of scientific publications – Acta Musicologica (together with Prof. dr hab. Irena Poniatowska) and Acta Slavica (together with Prof. dr hab. Adam Bezwiński) – and of CD albums (the recent Capella Bydgostiensis album with works by G. Bacewicz recorded for the NAXOS label won a Fryderyk). He has received many awards and distinctions in the field of creation and dissemination of musical culture: 1994 – Award of the Bydgoszcz Voivode; 1996 – for active and creative activities as part of the celebration of the 650th anniversary of Bydgoszcz, honoured by the Mayor of Bydgoszcz with the Medal on the 650th anniversary of granting Bydgoszcz city rights; 1998 – Award of the Mayor of the City; 2000 – Award of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship; 2001 – for active and creative activities as part of the Year of I. J. Paderewski, honoured with an Award of the Marshal of the Voivodeship; 2003 – awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland – Bronze Cross of Merit; 2004 – Award of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship; 2010 – Award of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship and an occasional medal for his co-operation in organizing the Fryderyk Chopin Year 2010; 2012 – Award of the Mayor of the City of Bydgoszcz; 2013 – awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland – Silver Medal for Long Service; honoured by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage – Honorary Badge “For Merit to Polish Culture;” Award of the Mayor of the City of Bydgoszcz for special services to the City of Bydgoszcz.
Journalist and TV presenter. Since 2015, she has been associated with Polish Television, mainly with the channel TVP Kultura, where she hosts cultural programmes, including Niedziela z…, Informacje Kulturalne, Słowobranie as well as music events, e.g. Fryderyki – Classical Music Gala, Coryphaeus of Polish Music, Young Musician of the Year, Young Dancer of the Year. Graduate of the Jagiellonian University in History of Art and Culture Management and of the Roman Turczynowicz General Education Ballet School in Warsaw. For eleven years, she was an artist of the Cracow Opera ballet. Author of the exhibition The Opera Space. Polish Stage Designers of the 20th and 21st Century at the National Museum in Cracow. She co-operates with the National Museum in Cracow, the National Institute of Music and Dance and with various opera houses.
In February 1982, Wojciech Rajski brought together a group of talented Polish string players to set up an orchestra which he called “Polish Chamber Philharmonic”. After meticulous rehearsals, the string orchestra made its début at the Musical Theatre Gdynia and abroad at the opening of Schliessheimer Summer in Munich and 37th Summer Music Days Hitzacker. The young ensemble has delighted the public and critics which gave rise to numerous invitations to all German festivals and to the most important concert venues like Berlin Philharmonic, Gasteig in Munich, Gewandthaus in Leipzig, Musikhalle in Hamburg, Pleyel House in Paris, Musikverein in Wien and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Since 1984 the orchestra has performed also in an extended formation as a classical full orchestra and it has carried the name of Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot since then.
At the end of the 80s the orchestra gave about one hundred concerts every year especially in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, the USA, China, Japan, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Great Britain and other countries. In 1987 the orchestra gave 33 concerts in the United States playing among others in J. F. Kennedy Centre in Washington and Metropolitan Museum in New York. It visited the US for the second time in 1999. The ensemble was also in Asia. (China – 1990 and Japan – 1997). The philharmonic has cooperated with the worldwide famous soloists such as Mscislaw Roztropowicz, Borys Pergamentschikow, Natalia Gutman, Irene Grafenauer, Sabine i Wolfgang Meyer, Guy Touvron, Misha Maisky, Raphael Oleg, Gil Shaham, David Geringas, Gary Karr and Ivo Pogorelić. The best Polish soloists cooperate continually with the orchestra in Poland and abroad.
The ensemble takes part in the most prestigious European festivals including Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau Festival, Prague Spring, Weilburger Schlosskonzerte, Festival van Vlaanderen, La Chaise-Dieu and many others. Over 10 times the orchestra has attended the Musical Festival in Łańcut and at National Philharmonic in Warsaw for many times. In November 2010 the PCP gave 4 concerts during Chopin Festival in Geneva.
The Polish Chamber Philharmonic has recorded more than 60 CDs since the beginning. The first analogue long plays were recorded in 1983 for Wifon and Thorofon and since 1986 Philharmonic has recorded also for EMI, Midas, Claves, Sonomaster, Opus, Mediaphon, DUX and many others.
The recording of Piano Concerto in E minor of this CD is the first one recorded in versions for piano and strings orchestra.
After 15 years of waiting thanks to Sopot’s authorities’ and Baltic Artistic Agency BART’s efforts the Polish Chamber Philharmonic has lived to see its own seat located at the area of the Forest Opera in Sopot. The Polish Chamber Philharmonic is a cultural institution of The Pomeranian Voivodeship’s Local Government.
In 2022 the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Playeres of Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot
I violin:
Anna Manicka – p.o. koncertmistrza
Anna Wieczerzak – zastępca koncertmistrza
Bożena Budzich
Anna Biadasz-Dolińska
Marta Westfalewicz
Dominik Urbanowicz
II violin:
Tomasz Kaczor
Jacek Koprowski
Grażyna Kasprzyk-Głaszcz
Arkadiusz Połetek
Anna Strojek
Violas:
Karol Jurewicz
Aneta Szybowicz
Marta Szyryńska-Krot
Bogusław Fuks
Cellos:
Alicja Leoniuk-Kit
Grażyna Michalec
Jakub Grzelachowski
Doublebass:
Sebastian Wyszyński
