Stabat Mater. Lenten concert

The Nowohuckie Cultural Center invites you to a unique Lenten concert. The program will include one of the most famous and moving works of sacred music — “Stabat Mater” by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.

The composition was created in 1736 and is a musical interpretation of a medieval sequence telling about the suffering of the Virgin under the cross of Christ. To this day, the “Stabat Mater” is one of the most frequently performed works related to the Lenten period.

The work consists of twelve parts, in which vocal parts are interspersed with string music. Pergolesi wrote the composition for soprano, alto, string quartet and basso continuo, using a simple, singing melody and contrasting fragments. In doing so, he creates an extremely evocative musical image of pain, prayer, reverie and hope. The concert will feature artists associated with, among others, the academic community of Krakow, whose concert activities include stages in Poland and abroad. Solo parts will be performed by Milena Sołtys-Walosik — soprano and Ewa Menaszek — mezzo-soprano. They will be accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra of the University of the National Education Commission in Krakow under the artistic direction and baton of Małgorzata Tęczyńska-Kęska.

Milena Sołtys-Walosik — soprano Fifth year student of the Faculty of Vocal and Acting at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow. From 2010 to 2016 she trained in the voice under the direction of Krystyna Tyburowska, and in 2014-2016 she was associated with the Krakow Opera as a choir artist. In 2022, she began her studies in the class of Prof. Dr. Jacek Ozimkowski. As a soloist, she successfully performs opera, oratory, cantata and song repertoire, as well as musical music and stage forms. He performs at numerous music festivals, presenting both works belonging to the canon of oratorical music and lesser-known compositions, with a special focus on the work of Polish composers. She is a laureate and finalist of vocal competitions. In 2023 she received a distinction in the 8th Krystyna Jamróz National Vocal Competition and became a finalist of the competition during the Jan Kantego-Pawluśkiewicz Festival in Nowy Targ. She has also performed at events organized by the Krakow Opera, the Krakow Philharmonic and as part of organ and chamber music festivals in Tyniec, Suwałki and Frombork. In 2024 she performed a solo part in “Missa Brevis in C” during the Final of the Festival of Children's Choirs at the Krakow Philharmonic and performed as part of the “Night of Cracovia Sacra” in the concert “The Cross in Classical Music”. On May 10, 2025, she made her debut on the stage of the Krakow Opera, creating the main role of the Marquise in the comic opera “The First Wrinkle” Teodor Leszetycki directed by Włodzimierz Nurkowski. Her latest achievements include 1st place in the 3rd National Władysław Żeleński Vocal Competition in Krakow in 2026 and winning two prizes in the XIV All-University Competition “I Play with the Orchestra”.

Ewa Menaszek — mezzo-soprano She graduated with distinction from the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow in the class of solo singing professor Agnieszka Monasterska, PhD. She is also a graduate of Spanish Philology at the Jagiellonian University. He regularly collaborates with the Krakow Opera, where he performs, among others, the composer's parts in Richard Strauss's “Ariadne on Naxos”, Prince Orłowski in Johann Strauss's “Revenge of the Bat”, Cherubin in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's “The Wedding of Figar”, Jadwiga in Stanisław Moniuszko's “The Scary Manor” and Mercedes in “Carmen” by Georges Bizet. She also performed at the Opera at the Castle in Szczecin, creating the roles of Public Opinion and Venus in Jacques Offenbach's “Orpheus in Hell”. The artist also successfully performs oratory and song repertoire. Her work includes solo parts in Manuel de Falla's “El amor brujo”, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's “Requiem in D minor”, Wojciech Kilar's “Missa pro pace”, Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's “Stabat Mater”, Józef Michał Ksawi's Mass in F major Poniatowski and Stanisław Moniuszko's Mass in G minor. Her artistic interests also include the vocal music of Spanish and Argentine composers of the first half of the 20th century, including Manuel de Falli, Enrique Granados, Joaquín Torina, Carlos Guastavin and Alberto Ginastera. She performed on the stages of the most important musical institutions in Poland and abroad, including the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Kosovo Philharmonic in Pristina, the Philharmonic of the Republic of North Macedonia in Skopje, the National Opera in Bucharest, the Krakow Philharmonic, the NOSPR, the Pomeranian Philharmonic, the Warmia and Mazury Philharmonic and the Podkarska Philharmonic Packa. She has participated in prestigious festivals, including the Jan Kiepura Festival, the Warsaw Chamber Opera Mozart Festival, the Polish Music Festival, “Music in Old Krakow” and “Wawel at Dusk”. She is a laureate of numerous vocal competitions of national and international scope, including the National Bogdan Paprocki Competition, the International Competition “Viva Calisia” and the International Jan, Edward and Józefina Reszków Competition.

Małgorzata Tęczyńska-Kęska — conductor Conductor and music educator. She graduated from the Władysław Żeleński State Music School in Kraków, the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków at the Faculty of Music, Interpretation and Music Education and postgraduate studies in cultural management at the Jagiellonian University. In 2016, she obtained a doctorate degree in the artistic discipline of conducting, and in 2023 — a doctorate degree in the field of art, in the artistic discipline of musical arts. In 2026 she was awarded the honorary medal “Meritorious for Polish Culture”, awarded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Since 2010 she has been the founder, artistic director and conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of the University of the National Education Commission in Krakow, and since 2013 she has also directed the UKEN Symphony Orchestra. He teaches at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow and at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics at the Stanisław Staszic Academy of Science and Technology in Krakow. Since 2011 she has also been working as a conductor teacher and conductor at the Władysław Żeleński State Music School in Kraków, collaborating with the Pro Musica Choir and Pro Musica Camerata.

Chamber Orchestra of the National Education Commission University in Cracow was established in 2005. He is one of the two orchestral ensembles operating at UKEN — alongside the Symphony Orchestra — and conducts intensive concert activity. Since 2010, the conductor and artistic director of the ensemble is Małgorzata Tęczyńska-Kęska. The orchestra consists of graduates of second-cycle music schools and students and graduates of the University of the National Education Commission and other universities in Krakow. The band gives about thirteen concerts a year in Poland and abroad. He has already performed in 11 European countries, including Bulgaria, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Scotland and England. The orchestra cooperates with esteemed soloists of the younger generation and actively participates in the most important cultural events of the University and Krakow. The band's output includes three CDs: “Bach — Marcello — Telemann — Vivaldi” (2020), “Dancing Ends” (2022) and “Reminiscences” (2025), documenting the artistic and repertoire diversity of the orchestra.