The motto of this year’s Sinfonietta Festival, Stars and Strings, brings to mind violins and the American flag. The fifth festival is dedicated to composers from the US, and the Sinfonietta Cracovia orchestra – organisers of the festival – is joined by guests from across the pond. Events kick off on 30 June with the Minimalistic Opening: the ensemble under the baton of Jurek Dybał performs works by John Cage, Steve Reich and Terry Riley. On 2 July we will hear the concert For Our Freedom and Yours with special guest Stanley Jackson. The world-famous tenor performs a classical repertoire and a selection from Six Songs to the Words by Adam Mickiewicz composed by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Both events are held at the Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall. We return there on 6 July for the All American Finale when we will hear Aaron Copland’s Clarinet concerto performed by the acclaimed French instrumentalist Michel Lethiec, supported by Sinfonietta Cracovia conducted by John Axelrod. The programme also includes compositions by Samuel Barber, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.
And don’t miss the musical barbecue, embodying the American spirit! Celebrating Independence Day, there is a selection of four concerts held in parallel at branches of the National Museum in Kraków (Hotel Cracovia, Józef Mehoffer House, European Cultural Centre Europeum and the Józef Czapski Pavilion) under the banner 4th of July BBQ Clubbing and culminating with a jam session at the gardens of the Józef Mehoffer House.
Minimalistic Opening
30 June, 7pm
Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall
Jurek Dybał – conductor
Sinfonietta Cracovia
John Cage — 4’33”
Erik Satie — Gymnopédie No. 1 for strings
Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska — A Maiden's Prayer op. 4
Michael Nyman — In Re Don Giovanni
Philip Glass — Quartet no 2 Company
Terry Riley — In C
Steve Reich — Triple Quartet
John Adams — Shaker Loops
For Our Freedom and Yours
2 July, 7pm
Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall
Stanley Jackson – tenor
Jurek Dybał – conductor
Sinfonietta Cracovia
Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Minuet in G major op. 14 nr 1
Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Suite in G major for string orchestra
Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Selection ftrom Six Songs to the Words by Adam Mickiewicz op. 18, for voice and string orchestra
1. Mine Eyes Have Known Tears
2. The Piper's Song
3. My Own Sweet Maiden
4. Pain Have I Endured
Jubilee sinfonietta*
The Spirituals:
Harry T. Burleigh (arr.) — Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Harry T. Burleigh (arr.) — Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit
Margaret Bonds (arr.) — He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Harry T. Burleigh (arr.) — The Gospel Train
Leonard Bernstein — Maria from West Side Story
Leonard Bernstein — Somewhere from West Side Story
* a piece by a laureate of the Internetional Composers Competition Sinfonietta per Sinfonietta under the honorary patronage of prof. Krzysztof Penderecki
4 th of July BBQ Clubbing
4 July, 5pm
Hotel Cracovia
Justyna Duda-Krane — violin
Danuta Augustyn — violin
Aneta Dumanowska — viola
Marcin Mączyński — cello (guest)
Steve Reich — Different Trains for string quartet and magnetic tape
Krzysztof Penderecki — String quartet No. 1
4 July, 5pm
The Józef Mehoffer House
Maciej Lulek — violin
Tom Robak — piano
Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Sonata for violin and piano op. 13
George Gershwin / Jascha Heifetz — Suite from Porgy and Bess
1. Summertime
2. My Man’s Gone Now
3. Bess, You Is My Woman Now
4. It Ain’t Necessarily So
4 July, 5pm
The Europeum Centre for European Culture
Piotr Marciak — violin
Marcin Kmiecik — violin
Ryszard Sneka — viola
Tomasz Wyroba — cello
Antonín Dvořák — String quartet No. 12 in F major op. 96 American
Ignacy Jan Paderewski — Minuet in G major No. 1 op. 14
George Gershwin — Lullaby for string quartet
4 July, 5pm
The Emeryk Hutten-Czapski Museum
Sara Kupc — violin
Jakub Żurek — violin
Damian Kułakowski — viola
Michał Panasiuk — cello
Philip Glass — String quartet No. 3 Misihima
Terry Riley — G-Song for string quartet
Paweł Szymański — Five pieces for string quartet
4 July, 8:30pm
Mehoffer Garden
Sinfonietta Cracovia musicians & friends
American standards
All the performs will play their program thrice, starting their concerts at the same time - respectively at 5pm, 6:15pm and 7:30pm. Each of the 45 minutes "rounds" will be separated from another one with half an hour break to enable listeners to move between every venue. The evining will be closed with an open air final show in Mehoffer Garden at 8:30pm.
All American Finale
6 July, 7pm
Gallery of 19th Century Polish Art in the Cloth Hall
Michel Lethiec – clarinet
John Axelrod – conductor
Sinfonietta Cracovia
Samuel Barber — Adagio for Strings
Aaron Copland — Clarinet concerto
George Gershwin — Preludes from An American in Paris, arr. by Franck Villard
George Gershwin — Lullaby for string orchestra
Leonard Bernstein — Waltz from Divertimento for orchestra
Aaron Copland — Suite from Appalachian Spring
Tickets: PLN 50/25 zł (except 4 th of July BBQ Clubbing - admission free)
