22 October 2016, 7:00 pm

Cultural Centre, Radomsko

Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus will honour the memory of the world-class conductor Jerzy Semkow with a special concert that will take place in the artist’s hometown of Radomsko on 22 October 2016.

Maestro Jerzy Semkow died in 2014. He was the initiator and patron of the Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus.

He was born on 12 October 1928 in Radomsko, Poland. In 1946-1951 Jerzy Semkow studied conducting under the supervision of Artur Malawski at the State Higher School of Music in Krakow, and in 1951-1953 he studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under the supervision of Yevgeny Mravinsky. In 1954-1956 he was an assistant in the Leningrad Philharmonic, while in 1956-1958 he worked as a conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. After his return to Poland, in 1958-1961 he performed the functions of a conductor and manager at the State Opera in Warsaw. In 1965-1970 he was a conductor at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. In 1970-1971 he lead the famous Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, in 1975-1979 – the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and in 1979-1982 – the RAI National Symphony Orchestra. In 1985-1993 he was a conductor at the Philharmonic in Rochester.

He led the world’s most renowned orchestras such as London Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de France, New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony. In addition, he recorded with such record labels as Columbia, EMI and His Master’s Voice. Maestro Semkow was also a strong promoter of Polish music around the world. He died on 23 December 2014 in Lausanne.

During the concert to his memory we will listen to Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op. 21 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” in C major, K. 551. Paweł Wakarecy, the finalist of the 16th International Chopin Piano Competition, will be the soloist of the Piano Concerto. The Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus will be conducted by Tomasz Tokarczyk.

Performers:
Paweł Wakarecy – piano
The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra
Tomasz Tokarczyk – conductor

Repertoire:
F. Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
W. A. Mozart – Symphony No. 41 “Jupiter” in C major, K. 551

Organiser:
Cultural Centre, Radomsko