We know the names of the conductors who qualified for the second stage of the 7th National Witold Lutosławski Competition for Young Conductors in Białystok. On Wednesday and Thursday (May 18 and 19), the following conductors will compete for the title of best conductor: Łukasz Ksobiraj, Daniel Mieczkowski, Jakub Montewka, Barbara Popławska, Michał Szymanowski, Martyna Szymczak, Piotr Wacławik and Jakub Zwierz.

The top eight were selected by a jury composed of distinguished Polish conductors and professors from music universities. –What the participants demonstrated during the first two days of the competition is truly excellent- emphasizes Professor Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, chairman of the jury and artistic director of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic. –The first stage is always incredibly tense, there’s little time, the candidates want to show off their best side, but time often becomes a trap. Sometimes someone wants to work on too many details, or is so paralyzed by stage fright that they can’t concise their remarks. The second stage is a bit different; first of all, we have more time to work, but the pieces we’ll hear are also very diverse. And here, there’s a lot of scope for the participants to show off their skills, not only in terms of their manual conducting skills, but also in terms of their work on these pieces – he adds.

We’ve already performed 24 musical performances over two busy days of auditions. The next two days are ahead of us, after which the winners will be announced. On Wednesday and Thursday (May 18 and 19), each participant will select two works from the repertoire in Group A (Antonin Dvořák – Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88; Pyotr Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36; Johannes Brahms – Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68), and then draw one to perform. From Group B, participants will draw one piece each (Henryk Wieniawski – Fantasie brillante, Op. 20, based on themes from Ch. Gounod’s opera Faust; Witold Lutosławski – Partita for violin and orchestra).

This year’s winner of the title of Best Young Conductor will be announced late in the evening of May 19, after the jury’s deliberations. The awards ceremony and the winners’ gala concert will take place on May 20 at 7:00 p.m. 7:00 PM in the concert hall on Podleśna Street. Cash prizes of PLN 15,000, PLN 10,000, and PLN 5,000 await the winners. The first-prize winner will also be eligible to participate in next year’s 11th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conducting Competition in Katowice.

Photo: Michał Heller /OiFP