Oratory Concert

Performers:
Concert on the occasion of Pope's Day
Orchestra and Choir of the Kosovar Philharmonic
Wojciech Czepiel — conductor
Joanna Konarzewska — violin
Adelina Paloja — soprano
Ivana Hoxha — mezzosopran
Piotr Kalina — tenorea
Arkadiusz Jakus — bass

Repertoire:
Krzysztof Penderecki — Ciaccona from Polish Requiem
Fahri Beqiri — Scanderberg Symphonic Poem
Karol Szymanowski — Violin Concerto Op. 35
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Mendi Mengjiqi — Oratorio Homagium Matri Teresiae

Born in Mitrovica, Kosovo, F. Beqiri dedicated his symphonic poem Skënderbeu, inspired by the 19th century program tradition, to the memory of the Albanian hero Skanderbeg. With a monumental, heroic poem, Beqiri proved that it is possible to combine the achievements of Western music with elements of Balkan national culture, thus pointing the way for the next generations of Kosovar artists.

The turmoil of war meant that in 1916 K. Szymanowski wrote his 1st Violin Concerto in isolation from the world. The impetus for the creation of the work in cooperation with the violinist P. Kochański was a poem by T. Miciński. The war and the outbreak of the revolution delayed the premiere of the concert, which took place only in 1922 in Warsaw. J. Ozimiński performed as a soloist, and two years later in New York I Koncert was performed by Kochański.

K. Penderecki's Polish Requiem was also written at a difficult time for Poland. The origins of the work date back to martial law, but since its premiere in 1984 it has undergone many modifications. The Ciaccona, part of it, was created in tribute to the late Pope John Paul II. In choosing the form of chaconne, Penderecki referred to the Baroque music and the work of J.S. Bach. The premiere of Ciaccona took place in 2005 in Wrocław, under the baton of the author.

Penderecki's student in Krakow was the Kosovar artist M. Mengjiqi, creator of the oratory Homagium Matri Teresiae, dedicated to the activities of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The premiere of the work composed in 1999 took place in 2001 in Krakow, conducted by W. Czepiel. In 2025, Homagium Matri Teresiae was also performed under his baton for the first time in Pristina and in Skopje, Mother Teresa's hometown.

Dorota Staszkiewicz

Joanna KONARZEWSKA — a graduate of the Academy of Music (now K. Penderecki) in Krakow and Syddansk Musikkonzeratorium og Skuespillerskole in Odense.

From 2009 to 2014 she was the concertmaster of the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Since 2014 she has been the concertmaster of the K. Szymanowski Philharmonic Orchestra in Krakow. She is also a guest concertmaster of the Beethoven Academy Orchestra.

Winner of chamber music and violin competitions, including the 1st Eugenia Umińska National Competition for Young Violinists in 2005 in Poznań, the 10th Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in 2006 in Lublin, the 1st National Competition of String Instrumentalists in 2006 in Krakow. In 2008, she received the award for Best String Instrumentalist at ISA, part of the Vienna — Prague — Budapest programme. In 2014 she won the Den Danske Strygerkonkurrence.

She has participated in numerous master classes in solo, chamber and orchestral instrumentalism, including the Australian International Summer Orchestra Institute in Tasmania, the Internationale Sommerakademie in Semmering in Austria, and courses in Łańcut, Żagán and Kołobrzeg. She had the opportunity to work under the guidance of such educators as Jadwiga Kaliszewska, Milan Vitek, Ernst Kovacic, Thomas Furi, Marcin Baranowski, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Krzysztof Śmietana.

She was a scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and the Małopolska Sapere Auso Scholarship Foundation. In 2012 and 2013 she was nominated for the cultural award of the city of Gdańsk.

As a soloist and concert master, she has collaborated with such orchestras as: Odense Symphony Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra in Gdańsk, Beethoven Academy Orchestra ska, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot, Elbląska Chamber Orchestra.

photo: K. Schubert

Piotr KALINA — tenur. He comes from Cracow. Soloist of the Stanisław Moniuszko Wielki Theatre in Poznań. He has performed on stage and in concert halls such as: Grand Theatre — National Opera, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Wrocław Opera, Berlin Philharmonic, NOSPR, Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre, National Philharmonic, Polish Radio Concert Studio, Kosovo Philharmonic, North Macedonia Philharmonic, Kullu Meeting Centre Tour in Lublin.

He has performed opera works such as: S. Moniuszko The Terrible Manor (Stefan), Jawnuta (Stach); G. Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo, Arturo); G. Verdi La Traviata (Alfredo), Simon Boccanegra (Gabriele Adorno), Rigoletto (Duca di Mantova); G. Puccini La Bohème (Rodolfo), Manon Lescaut (Edmondo), Z. Krauze Wedding (Władzio); W. Stępion Black Mirror (Inquisitor); S. Rzepiela Demeter (Hades). He also performed oratorical and cantata works, including W. A. Mozart's Requiem, A. Bruckner Te Deum, J. Haydn's Creation of the World, S. Moniuszko Crimean Sonnets and others. He also appeared on the OperaVision channel in online broadcasts.

He has collaborated with conductors such as: Marco Guidarini, Lawrence Foster, Jacek Kaspszyk, Łukasz Borowicz, Andriy Yurkevych, Rafał Kłoczko, Szymon Bywalec, Jakub Chrenowicz, Tomasz Tokarczyk, Piotr Sułkowski, Sławomir Chrzanowski, Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak, and directors: David Pountney, Thaddeus Strassberger, Gerard Jones, Ilaria Lanzino, Barbara Wiśniewska, Włodzimierz Nurkowski, Hanna Marasz-Fiugajska, Krzysztof Cicheński.

He participated in many master classes, among others conducted by: Piotr Beczała, Mariusz Przyła, Izabela Kłosińska, Ewa Iżykowska, Marcel Boone, Teru Yoshihara, Anatol Goussev.

In his free time, he plays role-playing computer games, improvises recipes and takes care of the welfare of his two cats.

photo: Katarzyna Przybyla Vdzia Photography

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