14.09.2025 | 5:00 PM

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stage of the Zagłębie Palace of Culture Theatre Hall

The festival’s traditional concert commemorating the anniversary of the birth of the competition’s patron. The repertoire features a cross-section of chamber music, from baroque through classicism to contemporary composers – including two of Spisak’s friends: Grażyna Bacewicz and Witold Lutosławski.

The Quintet of Silesian Chamber Musicians:

• Dariusz Zboch – violin
• Jakub Łysik – violin
• Jarosław Marzec – viola
• Katarzyna Biedrowska – cello
• Dawid Lewandowski – double bass
• Christoph Soldan – piano

Repertoire:

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concerto No. 12 in A Major KV 414
• Grażyna Bacewicz – Oberek
• Witold Lutosławski – 5 folk melodies for string orchestra
• Vivaliana – arr. Dariusz Zboch

The Quintet of Silesian Chamber Musicians – was formed over 20 years ago as a string quartet, and after a few years, it expanded its lineup by adding a double bass, thereby broadening its repertoire. The ensemble does not limit itself to classical music but also draws from other genres, as evidenced by its first two albums: “Ba…ROCKOWO” and “Mecyje.” Both albums are entirely filled with works arranged by the band’s first violinist, Dariusz Zboch. The first album features popular hits from the 1960s and 70s in a completely new, “classical” arrangement, while the second album showcases a variety of pieces from the broad realm of Jewish music. The inspiration for recording the third album, featuring string quintets by Krzysztof Penderecki and Antonín Dvořák, came from the ensemble’s musicians’ deep connection to the pure form of chamber music. The next phonographic release was the result of collaboration with German pianist Christoph Soldan, with whom the quintet regularly performs as the “Schlesische Kammersolisten.” The album features gems of chamber music: Schubert’s “Trout” Piano Quintet and Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor. The ensemble’s latest project is a musical-literary-art initiative titled “the Dreamers” – an album with music for poems by J. Brzechwa and J. Tuwim. The Quintet of Silesian Chamber Musicians has performed at many festivals both in Poland and abroad, including: Music in Old Kraków, Schubertiade in Dorzbach, the Bravo Maestro Festival at the I. J. Paderewski Centre in Kąśna Dolna, Musical Evenings at the Basilica (Katowice Bogucice), and the Festival de Música de la Vila de Rialp. The musicians of the ensemble are regularly invited by various artists from the world of film and entertainment to collaborate on concert performances and recordings, including Maciej Zakościelny, Anna Dereszowska, Waldemar Malicki, Marcin Wyrostek, Grzegorz Turnau, Hanka Mlynkowa, Ewa Uryga, Kasia Moś, and others. The artists also regularly perform with the Silesian Chamber Orchestra and the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Katowice.

Photo by Roman Huzior

Christoph Soldan – born in 1964, the pianist studied under the guidance of Prof. Eliza Hansen and Christoph Eschenbach at the Hamburg University of Music. A breakthrough in his vibrant international concert career came with a joint concert tour with Leonard Bernstein in the summer of 1989. The world-renowned conductor commented on Christoph Soldan: “I am impressed by the spiritual greatness of this young musician”. Since then, Soldan has toured extensively with renowned orchestras throughout Europe and with piano recitals in Mexico and other Central American countries, in Salzburg and in the Chamber Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and Japan. He has appeared in radio and television productions for Hessischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, SWR, ORF and ZDF, in a live broadcast for Bayerischer Rundfunk he performed a piano recital in residence in Munich and a concert at Musiktage Bad Brückenau and on Radio Bremen and Bayerischer Rundfunk. Between 1996 and 2006, Christoph Soldan recorded all of Mozart’s piano concertos in collaboration with the Cappella Istropolitana, the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra in Pforzheim, and the Silesian Chamber Orchestra. The concert cycle was completed in 2006 with the recordings of the Piano Concertos for two and three pianos. He arranged Pas de Deux for dance and piano – Moments of a Life – together with dancer and choreographer Stefanie Goes. This full-length stage work premiered in Stuttgart in May 2000 and has been continuously evolving, with a total of seven different versions created so far. Since 2000, Christoph Soldan has regularly collaborated with writer Peter Härtling. He has performed piano recitals in Hamburg and Berlin, as well as concerts during the Prague Spring Festival and with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic. His achievements include live recordings made during the Mozart Summer in Augsburg and at the Maulbronn Monastery. In January 2004, the premiere of the new dance performance Something of People and Angels took place, followed by a tour in South Africa. Since 2007, he has been actively conducting piano concert performances featuring works by Bach and Mozart. His current program includes piano recitals, reading concerts, concerts for children, and various tours presenting piano compositions by Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Chopin, and Ravel, which have been presented in Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and Austria. In 1994, Christoph Soldan founded a chamber music festival in the Hohenlohe region: the Schubertiade at Dörzbach Castle, where he served as director until 2007. In 2007, he opened his own theatre in Dörzbach an der Jagst, where this festival cycle continued until 2023. Christoph Soldan is the artistic director of several concert series in Germany, such as Meisterkonzerte Bacharach and Goldener Oktober Schwandorf. The Deutsche Presse described Christoph Soldan as: “An artistic personality who, unlike the purely technical, virtuoso orientation, focuses on the intellectual density and spiritual dimension of the artwork. This demand from music and from oneself has become rather rare in today’s world”.

Photo by Roman Huzior