Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir

The Choir was established in March 2006 as a joint initiative of V. Bielecka and M. Nałęcz-Niesiołowski. Choir artists had sang for many years in “Cantica Cantamus,” the Bialystok Chamber Choir, under the direction of the current conductor and artistic director of the Choir—Prof. V. Bielecka. At present, the Choir has the honour to cooperate with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, participating in subsequent editions of “Chopin and His Europe” International Music Festival in which, together with Europa Galante, an Italian ensemble of instrumentalists specializing in the performance of early music conducted by Maestro F. Biondi, presented concert versions of operas by V. Bellini: “I Capuleti ei Montecchi” and “Norma,” and by G. Donizetti: “Macbeth.” The latter was recorded in the original Florentine 1847 version and released on record label Glossa. In 2018, as part of the Year of Stanislaw Moniuszko, again with Europa Galante, the Choir recorded two of Moniuszko’s operas: “Halka” and “The Haunted Manor,” and in January 2019 in the Grand Theatre—National Opera in Warsaw the ensembles performed together yet another time, presenting the concert version of “Halka” in Italian (in the 19th century translation). Another outstanding success is the result of collaboration with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra; both ensembles gave numerous concerts together, and recorded the F. Nowowiejski’s “Quo vadis” oratorio op. 13 for soprano, baritone, bass, mixed choir, symphony orchestra and organ, conducted by Ł. Borowicz. In 2009–2012, the Choir gave concerts conducted by the contemporary Polish composer, Maestro K. Penderecki, performing a number of his compositions, including 7th Symphony “Seven Gates of Jerusalem,” the 8th Symphony “Songs of Transition,” and “The Polish Requiem.” A fruitful cooperation with Ludwig van Beethoven Association brought various recordings and presentations of concert versions of the operas of C.M. von Weber (“Euryanthe”) and G. Donizetti (“Maria Padilla” performed with Polish Radio Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Ł. Borowicz). The Choir leads a very intensive concert activity nationally and internationally (Belgium, Belarus, France, Lithuania, Moldova, Germany, Romania, Ukraine, Italy) in famous concert halls, and is invited to prestigious festivals, such as: “Chopin and His Europe,” “Wratislavia Cantans” International Music Festival, Ludwig van Beethoven International Easter Festival, “The Warsaw Autumn” Festival of Contemporary Music, “Gaude Mater” International Festival of Sacral Music, “Singer’s Warsaw” Festival of Jewish Culture. The Choir’s performances are met with an enthusiastic reception from the audience as well as an acclaim of conductors and reviewers. Performance under the baton of maestro Valery Giergiev in association with the Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre during the 16th Easter Beethoven Festival in Warsaw Philharmonic (the Choir performed “Alexander Nevsky” by S. Prokofiev) ended with great ovations. The Choir’s repertoire includes a cappella choral pieces, oratories, operas, the greatest works of sacral music performed in cooperation with outstanding Polish and foreign orchestras, including: Europe Galante, the National Polish Radio Orchestra in Katowice, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, the National Philharmonic and Grand Theatre Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Sinfonia Iuventus, the Poznań, Podkarpackie, Łódzkie Philharmonic Orchestras, and many others. On the number of occasions the Choir participated in premiere performances of works bt contemporary Polish composers, including K. Penderecki, S. Moryto, M. Małecki, M. Borkowski, P. Łukaszewski, J. Świder, R. Twardowski, M. Bembinow, J. Krutul, M. Fedorov. The Choir recorded a number of compositions for the radio and record companies. On several occasions, the Choir was awarded Polish Phonographic Industry Award–“Fryderyk”: for the album entitled “Kurpiowskie Songs: Górecki, Moryto, Szymanowski,” conducted by V. Bielecka in the Phonographic Debut of the Year (2009) category; for P. Łukaszewski’s “Symphony of Providence,” with the participation of soloists: A. Mikołajczyk-Niewiedział, A. Rehlis, J. Bręk. Recorded on the album is also the Kraków Polish Radio Choir of in and the OiFP Orchestra, conducted by M. Nałęcz-Niesiołowski in the Contemporary Music Album of the Year category (2016), and for the album “Symphony on the Mercy of God” with the participation of soloists: A. Mikolajczyk-Niewiedział and M. Nerkowski, the Choir and Children’s Choir, and the Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic under conducted by W. Michniewski in the Album of the Year of Contemporary Music category (2017). Interesting interpretations of choral a cappella music are also recorded on CDs: M. Gumiela’s „Sacred Works,” K. Szymanowski’s & H.M. Górecki’s & S. Moryto’s „Kurpie Songs,” S. Moryto’s „Choral Music,” S. Rachmaninov’s „All-Night Vigil,” released by the labels DUX Recording Producers or Classic Produktion Osnabrück. For remarkable achievements in the field of choral music, the ensemble was honoured by the Marshal of the Voivodship with the Honorary Medal of the Podlaskie Voivodeship (2017). The Choir was awarded International Classical Music Awards (ICMA 2018) for F. Nowowiejski’s “Quo vadis,” with the participation of soloists: W. Chodowicz, R. Gierlach, W. Gierlach i S. Kamiński, and the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ł. Borowicz. In addition to numerous artistic presentations and performances of a cappella and vocal-instrumental music, the Choir performs complex choreographic stage arrangements, including, to date: S. Moniuszko’s “The Haunted Manor,” G. Verdi’s “Traviata,” W.A. Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” G. Bizet’s “Carmen,” and G. Puccini’s “La Bohème” and “Turandot,” as well as musicals: Ch. Williams’ “Korczak,” J. Bock’s “Fiddler on the Roof” and A. Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” L. Simon’s “Doctor Zhivago” as well as J. Strauss’s operetta “Die Fledermaus.”