The 20th Slavic Song Contest is over!
On Monday, May 22, 2023. The Oratorium Marianum was filled to capacity for the 20th anniversary Slavic Song Contest organized by the Institute of Slavic Studies, the Center of Culture and the Arts in Wrocław, the International Office of the University of Wrocław and the Center for Student and Doctoral Activities. The First Prize of the Dean of the Faculty of Letters, prof. Arkadiusz Lewicki (PLN 2,000) was sung by Adrianna Kwiatkowska, a student of German Studies and CAPITOL Musical Study. In her performance we heard a piece from the repertoire of Picardy Third, the Ukrainian anthem of recent years titled “Plywe kacza” (‘Duck float’).
The face and main organizer of this competition has been dr Wiesława Zybura since the first edition. Throughout all these years, the directors of the Institute of Slavic Studies, deans, rectors and vice-rectors of the University of Wrocław have changed. However, she passionately and wholeheartedly organizes these concerts, winning more and more prizes and sponsors every year for this beautiful musical festival. It integrates and unites the Wrocław academic community indeed. This commitment was appreciated by the Institute of Slavic Studies, the Faculty and the University of Wrocław authorities, as well as the audience that awarded the artist with a standing ovation.
In honour of the anniversary, the International Office sponsored crystal medals for the counselors of this competition, which were solemnly presented by Vice-Rector prof. Patrycja Matusz.
It is hard to imagine this May musical holiday without senior rector prof. Adam Jezierski and multi-instrumentalist Stanislav Marinchenko, who took part in all editions of the competition. For their participation in all editions as accompanists and performers, both men received commemorative violin keys with beautiful dedications presented by Vice-Rector prof. Maciej Cesarz.
Our regular, long-standing winners were honoured with a specially recorded CD of songs performed by them: Martyna Dubinskaya, Jakub Walczak and Stanislav Marinchenko – “They were united by the Institute of Slavic Studies and music”. The CD was recorded by dr Jakub Wilk of the Institute of Journalism and Social Communication and Jacek Jurek of INFOSTUDIO in Wrocław. Copies of the CDs were presented to our artists by Mr. Vice-Rector prof. Maciej Cesarz.
Our laureates sang the song with which dr Jakub Walczak began his musical adventure – “Все пройдет” from the repertoire of Michaił Bojarski.
This year, the competition part was led by third-year Russian Studies students Zofia Kaczynska and Estera Dzieniszewska.
This year’s official first part of the event began with singing in Macedonian and accompanying himself on the guitar by Ilija Psaltirov, Ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia to Poland. With his beautiful voice, clever lyrics and poignant music, Mr. Ambassador moved the audience to tears. Ilija Psaltirov was honored with university gifts and a commemorative diploma. He himself also funded and personally presented his award to Institute of Journalism and Social Communication student Sofia Poplavskaya. Sofiia also won the Third Prize of the Head of the Institute of Slavic Studies (PLN 1,000) for her beautiful interpretation of the Ukrainian song Пісня буде поміж нас.
The First Prize of the Dean of the Faculty of Letters, prof. Arkadiusz Lewicki (PLN 2,000) was sung by Adrianna Kwiatkowska, a student of German Studies and CAPITOL Musical Studio. In her performance we heard a piece from the repertoire of Picardy Third, the Ukrainian anthem of recent years – “Plywe kacza” (‘Duck float’).
The decision of the jury is not surprising. Adrianna is a winner of many competitions. At the Open Vocal art school she trained on jazz, soul and R&B songs. She performs on the stage of the CAPITOL Musical Theater. Among others, she took part in the “Gala of World Musicals” and “Gala of World Musicals II – Heroes of the Imagination” directed by Konrad Imiela, as well as in the “CAPITOL for Ukraine” concert.
The second prize – the Wroclaw ANIMA Club – recital in Anima was won by Germanist Maria Terefenko and Daniel Starzynski – a student of mechatronics at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Their performance of “Perszej hodyny” (‘First hour’) in Lemko language won the hearts not only of the audience, but also of the jury. The duo also received the prize of the Cossack Hut and the Anonymous Slavic Song Enthusiast (PLN 500). Daniel has been a soloist in the Lemko Song and Dance Ensemble “Kyczera” for many years, and has toured with the group around the world, including China, Georgia and Israel. He was a student at the Secondary Music School in Legnica in the accordion class and, like Maria, graduated in 2016 from the School of Orthodox Singing at the Regent Institute in Przemyśl.
The prize of the International Office (PLN 1,000) was won by a bohemian student from the Institute of Slavic Studies by Małgorzata Pelak with a piece from Jaromir Nohavica’s repertoire titled, “Jako jelen když vodu chce pít” (‘Deer that wants to drink water’). Małgorzata is the chairwoman of the Bohemian Scientific Association and an active member of the student Artistic and Theatrical Ensemble NOMEN OMEN.
Kalina Filus, who won the prize of the owner of BT JOANNA Ms. Ilona Jasinska with the song “Řeka zapomnění” (‘River of oblivion’) also from the repertoire of Jaromir Nohavica, will spend the weekend in Prague with a companion. Kalina also received the Prize of the second Anonymous lover of Slavic song – 500 PLN.
Nikolai Klyta, who was accompanied on the piano by Rector Senior prof. Adam Jezierski with “Чёрноглазой казачкой” (‘Black-eyed Cossack’), won the prize of the Center for Culture and Art in Wrocław ( PLN 500) and the ARMINE prize of Galina Asatryan. Over the past year, this talented Russian has won second place at the 17th All-Polish Vocal Competition named after Franciszka Platovna and first place at the 7th Danubia Talents International Music Competition 2022.
A fourth-year student of psychology at the University of Wrocław, a graduate of the singing class at the Open Vocal Art School in Kłodzko Magdalena Kurowska was for several years the vocalist of the band “The Soul Sweepers”. Magdalena and her accompanist Stanisław Roguzh were brought together by music. They are members of the Artistic and Theatrical Ensemble NOMEN OMEN. Magdalena won the Prize of the Head of the Institute of Germanic Studies (PLN 500).
Wojciech Wojda graduated from the Józef Elsner State Secondary Music School in Warsaw as an instrumental musician with a specialization in euphonium. He is studying applied linguistics with an English-Spanish language combination. He is studying Czech for the second year as part of a lectureship. He won the award of the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Wrocław, Mr. Arkadiusz Ignasiak (PLN 500) by singing a capella, “Dokud se zpívá” (‘As long as it’s sung) also from the repertoire of Jaromir Nohawica. Incidentally – Jaromir Nohavica should probably fund the winner of successive editions of the CPS some kind of his prize – so often have covers of his songs been awarded over the course of these twenty editions.
The Dean of the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics, prof. Jacek Przygodzki, presented his prize (PLN 500) to Filip Jaźwinski, a talented student of Polish Studies. The judges appreciated the talent and interpretation of Stan Borys’s great hit „Jaskółka uwięziona”(‘Swallow Trapped’) performed by this young artist, a member of the NOMEN OMEN Artistic and Theater Ensemble. Filip Jaźwinski also received the Art Voice award of Anna Majkut-Polańska.
LEADER*ZY – a trio of students from the Scientific Association of German Studies of the UWr the direction of dr Julianna Redlich presented “Dwa serduszka, cztery oczy” (‘Two hearts, four eyes’) – a song performed years ago by Masovia and recently popularized by Joanna Kulig and Sanah. The jury chaired by dr Mateusz Wiśniewski, awarded the ladies the second prize of the Anonymous Slavic Song Lover (PLN 500).
Kamil Grodzicki – a first-year student of Russian Philology at the Pedagogical University of Cracow, and a chorister with the Canticum Canticorum choir for several years – charmed the audience with a piece in Russian, “Всё равно ты будешь мой. Kamil won the Art Voice award of Anna Majkut-Polańska.
Weronika Jobczyk a student at the University of Environmental and Life Sciences, won the Audience Award for her song from the repertoire of Anna German, titled “А он мне нравится” (‘I Iike him’). She was accompanied on the piano by Stanisław Marinchenko. The prize was awarded by the student jury, guided by the applause and applause of the audience.
Before the deliberations of the jury, the first star of the First Slavic Song Contest, then a fifth-year student of Russian Studies, and a long-time sponsor (awarded a crystal medal by Vice-Rector prof. Patrycja Matusz) Anna Majkut-Polańska performed on stage. This time we heard her in a beautiful interpretation of an excellent hit from the repertoire of Krystyna Prońko entitled “Małe tęsknoty”(‘Small longings’).
The second, non-competitive part of the concert began with the first presenters, then first-year Russian Philology students Małgorzata Morkowska and Łukasz Gawlik. They, along with their practice group and their lecturer dr Wiesława Zybura, came up with the idea to organize this competition. By the time of their graduation and during the 10th anniversary edition they had run all the competitions – first in the Leopoldina Auditorium and later in the Oratorium Marianum.
In the second part, the stage was taken over by the first winners of the competitions, then first and second year students. The reaction of the audience during the performance of the Kolchoz Boys singing the hit of Picardy Third “Bohdan” was identical to that of twenty-some years ago, frenzy, delight, admiration! The band performed exceptionally with a changed lineup. The composition of the band is: Dawid Mońko, Wojciech Poros, Wojciech Olszewski, Piotr Bielański and the youngest participant replacing Dawid Mońko who was on a business trip is Nikolai Klyta.
You will hear the band in full once again at the fall concert Melodies of Three Generations. You are welcome to attend.
We also listened to a beautiful a capella performance by Marta Groffik – Perchel with the band Three Days Later. For technical reasons, the ladies sang the Russian song “W upale” (‘In the heat’) instead of ”Ajde Jano” for voices. Let’s hope to hear ”Ajde Jano” at the autumn concert.
Lubov Moroz, replacing Natalia Tsiolka in the concert, presented a poignant Ukrainian song, “Материнская любовь” (‘A mother’s love’) dedicating it to a friend recovering from a serious accident. Pavel Loboda with the KONKRET ensemble is a recent graduate of Serbian Philology. His performances with the band have always aroused the enthusiasm of the audience, and so it was this time as well. They are exceptionally talented young people.
The angelic voice of the Institute of Slavic Studies, i.e. Martyna Dubinskaya, who has been awarded many times during the various editions of the competition, this time presented a beautifully performed mashup of two songs – “Krakowski Spleen” by Kora and “Mori” by Dawid Podsiadło. She was accompanied by Stanisław Marinchenko. Igor Jelinek, a Czech artist and lecturer at Ostrava University, and Stanisław Marinchenko, who are so closely associated with the Institute of Slavic Studies and our competition, were honored almost two years ago by the then Vice-Rector for Student Affairs prof. Tomasz Kalisz and the Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Wrocław, Mr. Arkadiusz Ignasiak, with a concert at the Oratorium Marianum.
The Beautiful Forty-Year-Old and the album released on this occasion presented a duet of the great Russian hit “Вальс Бостон” (‘Boston Waltz’) and dr Igor Jelinekczeski himself presented the song “Co když” (‘What if’). The second part of the competition ended with a rock ballad by The Beatles “Hey Jude”, in Czech version, by Kamila Ogrodnik (Konopczak) a graduate of Russian and Bohemian studies. Kamila, together with Klaudia Wyglądacz, were multiple winners of the Slavic Song Contest. Kamila invited guest artists not only from the Institute of Slavic Studies – Klaudia Wyglądacz, Martina Dubinskaya, Igor Jelinek, Stanislav Marinchenko, and fellow members of the Kolchoz Boys team – Wojciech Poros, Wojciech Olszewski, Piotr Bielański and the youngest participant, Nikolai Klyta.
The third, informal part of the Slavic Song Contest took place in the hospitable thresholds of the Botanical Garden. Thanks to long-time sponsors, we entertained ourselves with dumplings, blinis and bread with lard until midnight. Leading the way were saxophonist Andrzej Walus, Ambassador Ilija Psaltirov, Germanists of the University of Wrocław and students.
We are already inviting you to the fall concert Melodies of Three Generations, to be held on October 6 at the Oratorium Marianum.
Estera Dzieniszewska and Zosia Kaczyńska
Translated by Karolina Konopska (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.
