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The 6th „Piano e Forte” Festival and Piano Competition 2023

The 6th „Piano e Forte” Festival and Piano Competition 2023

Krakow - Wieliczka - Kasna Dolna | February 27 - March 5, 2023

Artistic Director Marta Polanska

On February 27 - March 5, 2023, the 6th „Piano e Forte” Festival and Piano Competition 2023 took place in Krakow, Wieliczka and Kasna Dolna, the main organizer of which is the Sfogato Music and Arts Society in Krakow.

Honorary patronage over the Festival was taken by: Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Glinski, Marshal of the Malopolskie Voivodeship Witold Kozlowski, Mayor of the City of Krakow Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of the City and Municipality of Wieliczka Artur Koziol, prof. dr hab. Andrzej Pikul, prof. dr hab. Benjamin Vogel.

The „Piano e Forte” Festival and Piano Competition is a unique artistic and educational event in the whole country, which presents piano issues in a holistic way, combining the theory of music with performance practice, and also taking into account the extremely important instrumentological aspect in the process of educating young pianists. The aim of the „Piano e Forte" Festival and Piano Competition, whose originator and artistic director is the pianist Marta Polanska, is to show the history of the evolution of the piano in the context of the development of the piano repertoire and performance practices on historical and contemporary instruments, as well as the multifaceted role of the piano and the pianist.

During the festival concerts held at the offices of the co-organizers: the Gothic Hall of the Saltworks Castle and the Sztygarowka Auditorium of the Music School Complex in Wieliczka, the Ballroom of the Willa Decius Institute of Culture and the Concert Hall of the Bronislaw Rutkowski Primary and Secondary Music School in Krakow, in the Paderewski Manor in Kasna Dolna and in the Divine Mercy Church in Krakow, outstanding artists performed: Elzbieta Stefanska - harpsichord, Joanna Lawrynowicz-Just - piano, Ewa Biegas - soprano, Grzegorz Biegas - piano, Hubert Rutkowski – period and contemporary piano, Katarzyna Drogosz - period piano, Tomasz Jarosz - baritone, Marek Polanski - violin, Dawid Rzepka - organ, Arkadiusz Bala - trombone, Pawel Gajewski - trumpet, musicians of the Arte dei Suonatori band: Ewa Golinska - violin, Anna Krzyzak-Siarkowska - viola , Kathrin Sutor - cello and Michal Babiarz - piano, who performed the title composition: Sonata pian'e forte for piano and tape by Leo Brouwer.

As part of the Festival, the "Piano e Forte" Academy was held - a series of lectures and workshops on the history and construction of the piano, performance practices and piano literature. This year's edition featured outstanding speakers: prof. dr hab. Benjamin Vogel – outstanding instrumentologist (lecture: "Chopin's pianos in Polish collections"), prof. dr hab. Andrzej Pikul (Master Piano Course with the winners of the "Piano e Forte" Competition and other piano competitions), prof. Hubert Rutkowski (lecture on the influence of experience in playing period instruments on performance and interpretation on contemporary instruments combined with a concert on period pianos: Pleyel 1847, Brodmann 1815, Broadwood 1841, Steinway 1872 and a contemporary Steinway piano), prof. dr hab. Helena Wrona-Polanska – clinical psychologist and certified psychotherapist (lecture on stage fright), Maria Wosiek - CEA consultant (piano workshops), Andrzej Chabracki – President of the SPSF, representatives of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw: Marcin Wasowski – Head of the Department for Science and Publishing House, Aleksandra Gruda – Promotion and PR Department. Instrumentology workshops for students of primary and secondary music schools, unique in the country, were conducted by: Paulina Tkaczyk-Cichon, PhD (harpsichord and spinet), Magdalena Smrokowska, MA (clavichord), and Zenon Kulik, MA (piano). Paulina Skrok, MA, told about the historic and unknown musical instruments located in the Gallery of Artistic Crafts of the National Museum in Krakow.

The participants of the 6th "Piano e Forte" Piano Competition 2023 from all over Poland were assessed by the Jury composed of: Waldemar Krol, MA - chairman, Ayham Hammour, PhD, Elzbieta Hoffman, MA, Anna Kozlowska, MA - secretary of the Jury.

The media patronage over the 6th „Piano e Forte” Festival and Piano Competition 2023 was taken by: TVP Kultura, Polish Radio Chopin, TVP 3 Krakow, Radio Krakow, Krakow.pl, Puls Wieliczki, POLMIC.pl

The project was financed by the PZU Foundation