The concert takes place as part of the 24th International Festival "Nova Muzyka and Architecture" - Toruń / Kuyavian-Pomeranian 2020.

Artists:

• Toruń Symphony Orchestra
• Wojciech Pławner – assistant conductor
• Dainius Pavilionis – conductor
• Urszula Urzędowska - introduction

Programme:

• E. Grieg - Peer Gynt suite No. 1, Op. 46
• E.Grieg - Peer Gynt suite No. 2, Op. 55
• G. Bizet - Carmen suite No. 1 and No. 2

The concert co-organised and co-financed under the Institute of Music and Dance 'Conductor – resident' programme

Spanish music is captivating, fiery and fascinating, which is why it returns like a boomerang in various historical periods, becoming an inspiration for many composers from Europe and overseas.
Orchestral Suite No.1 from the opera ‘Carmen’ is a musical emblem of Bizet’s entire opera - a work outstanding in every respect, but one which critics did not acclaim at first. One of the critics wrote the following words about the plot: “What kind of play is this? A man meets a woman he likes (Act I). They love each other (Act II). She does not love him (Act III). He kills her (Act IV). A real play should feature surprises, misunderstandings, peripety - this is what theatre is all about!” All of the opera’s main themes resound in the Orchestral Suite No. 1, which is all glistening in the Southern sunlight in the Prelude, as well as the theme of the corrida and the toreador song. What else could we add? - when everything “shines with perfection”.
In Norwegian tradition, Ibsen’s titular character Peer Gynt is an archer who spends his life in the mountains. There he hunts for bears and fights various apparitions: ghosts, witches, trolls and other monsters. He leads a troubled life, has many adventures, often fantasizes and makes up stories. Peer Gynt - like a typical romantic hero - travels a lot and looks for the meaning of life. Eventually, he returns to his Solvejga, who is still waiting for him, despite all the harms she has suffered by being abandoned.
Edward Grieg ‘musicalised’ Ibsen’s drama by writing twenty-six pieces, of which he chose eight most impressive ones, and then put them together in two suites.
Thus, both parts of this concert, the Spanish and the Scandinavian, will resound with love-themed music, and love, as Octavio Paz wrote: “is a test that ennobles all of us, the happy and the unhappy alike”.

Aneta Derkowska, PhD

Wojciech Pławner is a violinist and conductor. He graduated from the Academy of Music in Łódź in the violin class of Professor Iwona Wojciechowska. He also studied at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg (Austria) and at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. In 2016 he graduated from the Department of symphonic & choral conducting of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in the class of Professor Marek Pijarowski and in 2018 he completed a choral conducting course in the class of Professor Bogdan Gola, becoming his assistant in the Department of Choral Conducting, Music Education, Church Music, Rhythmics and Dance in October 2018. He is a laureate of many domestic and international violin competitions. Major achievements include 6th place in the 13th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań, 1st place in the Stefanie Holl-Violinwettbewerb Competition in Vienna, Grand Prix and the Apollo’s Chariot award in Olsztyn and 2nd prize in the Louis Spohr International Competition in Weimar (Germany). He has been awarded multiple grants by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and is a laureate of the Young Poland scholarship programme. As a violinist, Wojciech Pławner had the opportunity to perform in several countries in Europe, as well as in Japan. He refined his skills in conducting courses led by such masters as Jacek Kaspszyk, Robert J. Delekta, Jonathan Brett and Maciej Żółtowski. He received honourable mentions in the 1st A. Kopyciński National Conducting Students’ Competition in Wrocław and in the 6th Witold Lutosławski National Young Conductors’ Competition in Białystok. He has appeared with philharmonic orchestras in Łódź, Katowice, Kielce and Zielona Góra, and with the Chamber Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Łódź. Pławner works together with the “Sinfonietta” Youth Orchestra of the Łódź Region. He was recently appointed as conductor-in-residence of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra for the 2019/2020 season under the Conductor-in-residence programme organised by the Institute of Music and Dance. In 2017 he became a teacher and conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski State Music School Complex No. 4 in Warsaw.

There is no intermission.
The event will take place in accordance with current recommendations and guidelines.

Please read the rules and comply with the GUIDELINES FOR THE CONCERT PARTICIPANTS.
IN CONNECTION WITH THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIA and completing the statement to be given to 
you by staff on the day of the concert.