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The Polish Chamber Choir - Schola
Cantorum Gedanensis
Soon
after its foundation in 1978, the Gdansk based Polish Chamber Choir -
gained a reputation of being one of the most accomplished and versatile
chamber choirs in Europe. This may be proved by the countless first
prizes won in international competitions (among them Tours, Montreux,
Vienna, and Takarazuka [Japan]). Since 1983 the choir has been
conducted by its artistic director, Jan Lukaszewski, and nowadays the
(by now fully professional, independent) Polish Chamber Choir sings 80
to 100 concerts per year which means preparing about 50 different
programmes.
Specializing in music a cappella, the main interests of the 24
strong professional ensemble lie in the fields of romantic and,
above all, of contemporary music. Hence the numerous compositions
dedicated to this group and its countless world premier performances. |
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Nevertheless, the ensemble performs oratorios and even operas and
has worked with many of the best philharmonic orchestras in Poland,
as well as with the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Amadeus orchestra (Poznan),
Batzdorfer Hofkapelle baroque orchestra (Dresden), and the Sans
Souci baroque orchestra (Berlin). Eric Ericson and Uwe Gronostay are
among its regular guest conductors.
The Polish Chamber Choir frequently appears in international festivals
and has sung at the Warsaw Autumn and Vratislavia Cantans as well as,
amongst many other places, in Salzburg, Dresden, Berlin, and Tokyo. Its
international tours take the group through all of Europe, to the USA
and to Japan. In 1999, the ensemble was invited to act as "official
symposium choir" to the "World Symposium on Choral Music". Eric Ericson
chose The Polish Chamber Choir to be "his" choir in concerts and
workshops during the International Choral Festival Ruhr 2001 where it
will appear as one of the four most accomplished European professional
chamber choirs.
Besides about 25 CDs (one of the latest, "Antiphonae" by P.Łukaszewski,
was nominated for the "Fryderyk" grammophone prize 2000), cassettes,
and videos it has recorded scores of hours for Polish Radio, Polish
Television (including all 68 Palestrina offertorios) and, on an
international level, has recorded for Bayrischer Rundfunk, Hessischer
Rundfunk, Sender Freies Berlin, and Westdeutscher Rundfunk with which
more recordings have been arranged for 2001.
In addition to this artistic work, the Polish Chamber Choir are active
in Poland also as organizers of international symposia, composers'
competitions, festivals, etc., etc. The ensemble's most recent honours
include the Stolem Medal for the promotion of Cashubian and Pommeranian
culture (1997), and, in 1999, for its services to the city of Gdansk
both in Poland and abroad the Prince Msciwoj II Medal.
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