Marimbas | Myćka | Kordylasińska-Pękala

As a concert instrument, the marimba has only been building its position in Europe and the world concert halls for several decades. The sound source in this percussion instrument is wooden bars, most often made of rosewood. The sound can be produced by hitting sticks or using many innovative playing techniques. Then it is amplified by impressive resonators. Although we place the marimba in the last row of instruments at concerts, it will appear in the foreground at the Philharmonic in Szczecin.

Katarzyna Myćka is a marimba virtuoso, appreciated for her extraordinary musicality and fantastic technique that influences the smoothness of the playing and the richness of the sound. The artist is one of the pioneers of the concert marimba, a still young and relatively rarely presented solo instrument. The artist has performed both with orchestras in Poland and with many ensembles worldwide (including the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Israeli, Wiener Kammerorchester and Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra).

The soloist's repertoire consists of various pieces: from solo recitals, duets, chamber concerts with a quartet or organ to performances with great choirs and symphony orchestras. In addition, Katarzyna Myćka regularly performs transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach or Sergei Prokofiev and original compositions by young composers (Emmanuel Séjourné or Anna Ignatowicz).

Currently, the artist's output includes seven CDs that show the diversity of her repertoire in a cross-sectional way.

Magdalena Kordylasińska-Pękala, who has been cooperating with Miłosz Pękala, a drummer as well, will appear on stage, too. Together they form the Hob-beats duo and Pękala / Kordylasińska / Pękala. Since 2005, together with Bartłomiej Wąsik and Emilia Sitarz have been known as the Kwadrofonik quartet, playing contemporary and folk music. The artist regularly takes part in the organization of the Kwadrofonik Festival.

Performed by these talented soloists, we will hear the concert for two marimbas and string orchestra by Anna Ignatowicz-Glińska, among others. The composer describes her work in this way:

The concert has a three-movement form; its main dramatic axis is the first movement, "Ricercar". (...) The solo instruments dialogue in imitation technique, in a rather unusual texture: the four-stick playing technique is used here, in octave doublings, which is a virtuoso element – due to the different (depending on the register) width of the marimba plates, phrases in parallel octaves are fast-paced, challenging and quite uncomfortable, but it allows a beautiful resonance of the entire instrument. The second movement of "Conductus" is a kind of stringed passacaglia – the marimba part has been reduced to single notes – interventions, signalling the progressive returns of the theme. (...) The third movement, "Celerior", is a kind of virtuoso coda, bringing an energetic, lively, syncopated theme of pseudo-people provenance.

Behind the conductor's stand, we will see the charismatic Marta Kluczyńska from the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw.