On September 14, at 6 p.m., will take place the Inaugural Concert of the 13th Michał Spisak International Music Competition. On the stage of the Zagłębie Palace of Culture – together with the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra under Marek Wroniszewski and the famous Portuguese clarinettist Vitor Fernandes – will perform the winner of the 12th edition of the competition – Paweł Cal. Meet the figure of a young and extremely talented artist, whose victory in the Spisak Competition helped to enter the world of great music.

Paweł Cal began to play the French horn at the age of 7 at the 1st and 2nd degree Ignacy Jan Paderewski State Music School in Konin in the class of mgr Jacek Rybczyński. In 2019, he graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he studied under dr Tadeusz Tomaszewski and prof. Will Sanders.

He is a prize winner of many wide and international competitions, including: 3rd prize at the 10th International Horn Competition (Brno, 2015), 2nd prize at the 4th Polish Nationwide Edwin Golnik Competition for French Horn Players (Łódź, 2015), 1st prize at the 4th Polish Nationwide Competition for Brass Instruments (Katowice, 2016), distinction at the 22nd Leoš Janáček Music Competition (Brno, 2016), 3rd prize at the 8th International Competition for Brass Instruments (Gdańsk, 2017), 3rd prize at the 70th “Prague Spring” International Music Competition (Prague, 2018), and 1st prize at the 12th Michał Spisak International Music Competition (Dąbrowa Górnicza, 2019).

He has cooperated with the following orchestras: Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Łódź Philharmonic, Kraków Philharmonic, Kalisz Philharmonic, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, I Culture Orchestra. As a soloist, he has performed with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Poznań Philharmonic and Łódź Philharmonic. He developed his skills under the direction of such outstanding musicians as: Wilhelmus Sanders, Stefan Dohr, Andrew Bain, Guido Corti, Jeff Bryant, Stefan de Leval Jezierski, Szabolcs Zempleni, Jindřich Petráš, Samuel Seidenberg, Jacek Muzyk.

He is a scholarship holder of Otwarta Filharmonia Agrafki Muzycznej (Open Philharmonic of Music Safety Pin), Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and Sapere Auso. Since 2016, he has been the deputy soloist of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.