1.10.2025 | 6:00 PM

Theatre Hall of the Zagłębie Palace of Culture

Performers:

• Seina Matsuoka (Japan) – violin
• Joanna Natalia Ślusarczyk – conductor
• Jerzy Semkow Sinfonia Iuventus Polish Orchestra

Repertoire:

• Michał Spisak – Three miniatures for small orchestra
• Antonín Dvořák – Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” in E minor op. 95
• Karol Szymanowski – Violin Concerto No. 2 op. 61

Photo by ©Jean-Baptiste Millot

Joanna Natalia Ślusarczyk | conductor – she is a graduate of the Symphony and Opera Conducting Department at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, under the guidance of Maestro Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk (graduating with distinction). She is also a graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków (graduating with distinction). She is a laureate of awards in International Conducting Competitions. In 2022, she won 2nd place at the “La Maestra Competition” in Paris, where she also received the Main Award of the European Orchestras Association, the “Echo Prize,” as well as the Main Award of the French Orchestras and Philharmonics. She is also the laureate of 2nd place at the “Jeunesses Musicales” International Conducting Competition in Bucharest, 3rd place at the “First European Union International Conducting Competition” in Sofia, 1st place at the “London Classical Soloists Conducting Competition” in London, and received a Special Distinction at “The BMW International Conducting Masterclass and Competition” in Portugal. In November 2023, she won the award for “Best Polish Conductor” at the “11th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors” in Katowice, and received invitations to conduct concerts with several Polish philharmonics.

She is a laureate of the “Conductor-in-Residence” program of the National Institute of Music and Dance and the International Mentoring Program of Peter Eötvös in Budapest. She won the Main Award of maestro Daniele Gatti at the “Accademia Musicale Chigiana” Festival in Italy. In 2022, she was selected for two more mentoring programmes: “Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship Mentoring Program” and “La Maestra Academy 2022-2024”. In September 2024, she was nominated for the prestigious award of the Polish music society Coryphaeus of Polish Music in the “Discovery of the Year” category. In addition to numerous concerts at home, she has also conducted in the United States (Illinois, Ohio), Israel, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Hungary.

She has conducted concerts with such orchestras as: Orchestre de Paris at the Paris Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian in Portugal, Orchestre Pasdeloup, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National de Metz, Orchestre National de Cannes, Orchestre National de Lille, Paris Mozart Orchestra, Pannon Philharmonic, Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, Moldova Philharmonic Iasi, Chorakademie and Orchesterakademie WDR in Cologne, Operaens Sinfonietta, London Classical Soloists Orchestra, Orquestra Clássica do Sul, Orquestra da Costa Atlantica, Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Giovanile Italiana, Symphony Orchestra of the Kraków Philharmonic, Silesian Philharmonic, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, Świętokrzyska Philharmonic, Zielona Góra Philharmonic, Polish Baltic Philharmonic, Sinfonia Iuventus Polish Symphony Orchestra, Płock Symphony Orchestra, and Toruń Symphony Orchestra.

At the beginning of 2023, she made her debut at the Opéra de Tours Grand Théâtre, where, as the musical director, she prepared and conducted the premiere of G. Donizetti’s opera Lucie de Lammermoor in its French version. From 2009 to 2019, she was the artistic director of the Małopolska Chamber Orchestra and also conducted the Kraków Young Chamber Orchestra, with which she undertook several foreign concert tours. She has been honoured with, among others, the “Minister of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship”, the “Scholarship of the Capital City of Kraków”, the “Sapere Auso Małopolska Scholarship Fund Scholarship”, and the “Main Award of the Kraków County” for outstanding achievements in the field of artistic creation, promoting, and protecting culture.

Photo by Monarca Studio

Photo by The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra

The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra – was founded on the initiative of Jerzy Semkow, one of the most prominent Polish conductors. Established by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage with a decree of 1 October 2007, it is a state artistic institution, the guiding principle of which is to give young musicians an opportunity for an artistic orchestral debut and prepare them to work in similar professional ensembles. The Orchestra is composed of the most talented graduates and students of art music academies under 30 years of age.     Sinfonia Iuventus began its artistic activity in June 2008. It has worked with many renowned conductors, including Jerzy Semkow, Kazimierz Kord, Jan Krenz, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gabriel Chmura, Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Strugała, John Axelrod, Charles Dutoit, Juozas Domarkas, Grzegorz Nowak, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Michaił Jurowski, Tadeusz Kozłowski, Andrzej Boreyko, Marek Pijarowski, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, Jerzy Salwarowski, Evgeny Volynsky, Gerd Schaller, Eugene Tzigane, Massimiliano Caldi, Andriy Yurkevych, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski, Łukasz Borowicz, and soloists, including Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Piotr Paleczny, Ivan Monighetti, Zakhar Bron, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Tatiana Szebanowa, Janusz Olejniczak, Jonathan Plowright, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Eugen Indjic, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Olga Pasiecznik, Jadwiga Rappé, Vadim Repin, Jan Stanienda, Tomasz Strahl, Alena Baeva, Leszek Możdżer, Yulianna Avdeeva, Agata Szymczewska, Jakub Jakowicz, Piotr Pławner, Patrycja Piekutowska, Łukasz Kuropaczewski to mention just the few of them. The Orchestra has made a number of albums, radio and television recordings for Universal Music, CD Accord, DUX, Polish Radio, Albany Records, TVP Kultura and Warner Classics. A special place in the Orchestra’s discography belongs to two albums with a symphonic repertoire: Schubert (2008) and Czajkowski (2010), recorded under the baton of Jerzy Semkow. An important position is also occupied by albums with music by Krzysztof Penderecki under his direction – the complete symphonies (2010–2012) and albums with solo concerts (2014–2016). Selected recordings in the series have been honoured, including the International Classical Music Award (2014 and 2016). The Orchestra has performed on many concert stages and at numerous festivals in Poland and abroad: in Austria (Musikverein), China (National Grand Theatre), France (Grand Auditorium UNESCO, Palais de la Musique et des Congrès), Spain (Auditorio Nacional de Música), Germany (Konzerthaus), Portugal (Grande Auditório), Italy, Switzerland, Lithuania and Ukraine. In the 2017/2018 artistic season, the ensemble performed the contemporary world premiere of the sacred opera Moses by Anton Rubinstein under the baton of Michail Jurowski and the semi-staged version of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème under the direction of Tadeusz Kozłowski. Since April 2009, the Orchestra has been a member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras, and since September 2018, the Polish Philharmonic Association. In November 2013, Krzysztof Penderecki assumed honorary artistic patronage over the Orchestra. In 2018, the Orchestra celebrated its tenth anniversary of  artistic activity, and during a concert at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw on October 8th, it officially adopted the name of Jerzy Semkow.