Music by Polish composers was performed Thursday at the Pilecki Institute in New York during a concert by young scholarship recipients of the Future Classics program. The performance by 15 instrumentalists and vocalists was intended to promote Polish talent and open the way to international careers.
The repertoire included works by Fryderyk Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutosławski and Krzysztof Penderecki. Among the performers were pianists Zuzanna Sejbuk and Julia Łozowska, clarinetist Leon Łunkiewicz and cellist Piotr Olesz. The program was created and funded by the Polish National Foundation (PFN).
“This is my debut in New York. Just being able to experience this city and its people is very inspiring. I think this trip could change a lot in my life,” Łozowska told PAP, the Polish Press Agency. She stressed that the program provides not only financial support but also opportunities to perform and gain experience.
The pianist pointed to growing competition in the international music market.
“These days it’s hard to break through, because there are so many of us, and the level of performance all over the world is extremely high,” said the graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. She added that today’s artists must handle many aspects of their careers on their own, from promotion to organizing recordings and concerts.
For Łunkiewicz, the program’s special value lies in the chance to meet other talented musicians.
“We really feel like a family, both the musicians and the people involved in organizing it,” he told PAP. He noted that in addition to talent and hard work, intellectual development, building a personal brand and making connections are essential.
Olesz shares that view.
“Besides talent, success depends on having an idea for yourself, continuing to develop, building connections,” he told PAP. He acknowledged that an international career also requires a bit of luck.
The Future Classics program, funded by the Polish National Foundation, is aimed at Polish musicians ages 18 to 25 who are studying in Poland and abroad. It includes scholarships, artistic and management mentoring, communication training, and concerts in Warsaw and New York. The project’s content partner is the Julian Cochran Foundation.
Fifteen scholarship recipients were chosen from 343 candidates. As foundation representatives explained to PAP, the first stage evaluated, among other things, the career business plans prepared by the candidates. Forty-eight people advanced to the second stage, from which an international jury, with ties to institutions including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the London Symphony Orchestra, selected the winners based on recordings.
“It was very important to us that the program have an international dimension,” Alina Łapińska of the Julian Cochran Foundation told PAP. She explained that New York was chosen so the young musicians could make contacts and come to believe they can perform on the world’s greatest stages.
“We wanted to give them wind in their sails,” Łapińska said.
Karolina Sajniak-Drzyzga of PFN told PAP that American artists, musicians, educators and critics were invited to the concert. Representatives of Carnegie Hall and of 21C Media Group, an agency specializing in promoting classical music artists, had also said they would attend.
From New York, Andrzej Dobrowolski (PAP)
Source: Nowy Dziennik