The program will feature Johann Sebastian Bach’s St John Passion, Samir Odeh-Tamimi’s L’Apocalypse Arabe, and the prologue and epilogue “I Ty musisz cierpieć/ And Thou Must Suffer” by Annelies Van Parys.
In Bolesławiec, we will welcome conductor Andreas Spering and the singers: Sebastian Kohlhepp as the Evangelist, Dominik Köninger as Jesus, Grace Davidson (soprano), Benno Schachtner (alto), Magnus Staveland (tenor), Tomáš Král (bass), as well as the choir of National Forum of Music and B’Rock Orchestra. Artistic direction by Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny.
Andreas Spering is one of the leading specialists in historically informed performance. The artist’s discography includes Handel’s Siroe and Imeneo, Reichardt’s Erwin und Elmira, Mozart arias, and rarely performed works by Haydn. Many of Spering’s recordings have won international awards and gained worldwide recognition.
Sebastian Kohlhepp began studying singing in a local boys’ choir in Limburg an der Lahn. He studied under Hedwig Fassbender at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Frankfurt am Main. His most recent recording is Bach’s St John Passion, conducted by René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi).
Dominik Köninger studied at the Opera School in Karlsruhe under Roland Hermann. He is a member of the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin, where he currently performs, among other roles, Mozart roles: Papageno in The Magic Flute, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, as well as the title role in Monteverdi’s Orfeo and Handel’s Julius Caesar.
Grace Davidson specializes in the performance of Baroque music. She has performed solo on many renowned stages, singing Baroque compositions ranging from Come, ye sons of art at London’s Barbican, through Purcell’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day and Bach’s Magnificat at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, to Bach’s St Matthew Passion at New York’s Lincoln Center.
Benno Schachtner studied church music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and later at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He is the first countertenor in the history of the prestigious International Bach Competition in Leipzig to receive the title “Bachpreisträger” and the orchestra prize. In 2010, he was named North Rhine-Westphalia’s Best Young Singer.
Magnus Staveland studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and the Royal Opera Academy in Copenhagen under Susanna Eken. His recent projects include Mozart roles: Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, as well as Haydn roles: Medoro in Orlando paladino and Areta in Philemon und Baucis; additionally, Atie in Gluck’s Aristeo, Giove in Bauci e Filemone, and Giove in La dora festeggiante by Martín y Soler.
Tomáš Král studied vocal performance at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts under Adriana Hlavsova and in master classes with Julie Hasler, Howard Crook, Sara Mingardo, and Ivan Kusnjer. Since 2005, he has regularly collaborated with Collegium 1704, Collegium Marianum, Musica Florea, Capella Regia, Ensemble Inégal, and Ensemble Tourbillon. He has taken part in many acclaimed recordings, particularly of works by Jan Dismas Zelenka, including Missa votiva, Requiem and Officium defunctorum, and Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta. He has also recorded for radio (Radio Klara, France Musique) and television (Arte, Mezzo).
The NFM Choir was founded in 2006 by Andrzej Kosendiak as part of the Wrocław Philharmonic, which was transformed into the National Forum of Music in May 2014. Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny has led it since its inception. It very quickly became a leading ensemble on Poland’s choral music scene. It has earned recognition by exploring both a rich a cappella repertoire and performing large-scale oratorio, operatic, and symphonic works. The ensemble has worked with such distinguished conductors as Giovanni Antonini, Bob Chilcott, Konrad Junghänel, Jacek Kaspszyk, Jan Łukaszewski, James MacMillan, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Paul McCreesh, and Krzysztof Penderecki.
B’Rock Orchestra was founded in Ghent in 2005 out of a need to renew and invigorate the early music world. Its members—leading international musicians—specialize in historically informed performance. They are distinguished by the openness and flexibility of their repertoire and playing. In its concert programs, B’Rock combines well-known Baroque compositions with less popular repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. The orchestra also pursues bold and innovative projects in which early and contemporary music meet and enrich each other. The ensemble focuses primarily on premieres of new compositions written for period instruments, but is also known for interdisciplinary projects. Early music combined with theater, visual art, or video is also part of the orchestra’s DNA.
