The musical year in Bolesławiec began on January 10 at the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The splendid Baroque interior and the church’s distinctive acoustics created the mood, atmosphere and setting for the Christmas Mystery performed by the State Music School in Bolesławiec. Let us recall that, based on texts by Ernest Bryll and Lucjan Rydel, the Mystery was prepared by Barbara Słaboń, MA (script), Bernard Cichorzewski, MA (concept, choir preparation and musical arrangements), Ludwik Glazer, MA (recitations), and other musicians from the State Music School: J. Florkowski, D. Pińczuk, L. Żyzny and J. Dolecki, all MAs. The undertaking was substantial and bold, considering that it was the first of its kind in Bolesławiec, and that for the first time the soloists and choir performed not only with the accompaniment of a single instrument—the organ—and two guitars, but also with a full orchestra, in which the strings, clarinets, trumpets, saxophone and double bass had to sound pure. And they did! It is a pity that the Mystery was performed only once, and with rather little publicity. A month passed and we had another musical event, this time in the “Forum” hall. On February 14, Bolesławiec hosted a concert by the EUROPERA-ORCHESTER. Professor Wolf Dieter Ludwig of Goerlitz’s idea of creating an international symphonic instrumental ensemble became reality in a 60-member orchestra that could be praised without reservation. The nearly one-hundred-minute concert consisted of waltzes and marches by outstanding composers: Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Johann Strauss, Georges Bizet, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (a splendid performance of the “Wedding March” from the suite “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) and others. The large and genuinely international ensemble—which also included Poles, one of whom even performed in two roles, as double bassist and announcer—was expertly led by the young conductor Reinhard Seehafer. The audience, mostly young, behaved wonderfully, rewarding every piece with prolonged applause and compelling the ensemble to perform an encore of the finale. It was a bravura march by P. Sousa, performed standing toward the end; the audience immediately rewarded it with an ovation, also rising from their seats. A beautiful concert, accessible to everyone. I think those who planned their Sunday afternoon differently missed a lot; the hall could still have accommodated several dozen people. This was not all for a good start to the musical year. Here is some information about a musical event held on February 19 at the State Music School. It was an honor for our music school, and at the same time an expression of trust in its teachers and educators, to be entrusted with organizing the Regional Auditions of the Piano Section for Students of First-Level State Music Schools. The auditions—student performances in which qualification for the central auditions in Warsaw was at stake—took place throughout the day in the piano-classroom hall (the auditorium) of the State Music School. Young piano students came to Bolesławiec from Zielona Góra, Zbąszyń, Szprotawa, Zgorzelec, Nowa Sól, Głogów, Krosno Odrzańskie, Gubin, Swiebodzin and Żagań. The State Music School in Bolesławiec was represented by Marta Ośko from Grade IV of the children’s department and Katarzyna Majewska from Grade V of the children’s department—both students of Lidia Jon, MA—and Aleksandra Wojciuk from Grade VI of the children’s department, a student of Dorota Popek, MA. The jury, or more precisely the assessment committee, chaired by Mikołaj Szczęsny, MA, from the Academy of Music in Szczecin, heard 20 female and male students presenting a fairly difficult repertoire: each performer presented four works of varying degrees of difficulty. Qualified for the central auditions in Warsaw were Agata Wesseli (teacher: Adam Kucia, MA) from the First-Level State Music School in Świebodzin, and Wojciech Wiśniewski (teacher: Zdzisława Gothszalk) from the First-Level State Music School in Nowa Sól. The event—as already mentioned above—was held in the small auditorium of the State Music School because the school simply has no larger one. It is a pity, because for the hundred students of the State Music School and nearly another hundred from the Music Center—not counting parents and music lovers—it would have been a genuine lesson in good musicianship. How greatly Bolesławiec needs the small concert hall planned in the adapted building next door... Returning to the musical year: the next musical events will take place in May. A jubilee concert is planned to mark the 10th anniversary of the State Music School, followed by Chamber Music Days. We will write about the details and any musical autumn later. For now, we have recorded a good start...