The project “Vocal Encounters – Polish-Czech Music Workshops,” taking place at the Old Theatre (MDK Bolesławiec), is attended by female and male vocalists from the Czech Republic and Poland, aged 5 to 20. Poland is represented by female vocalists from classes conducted at the Youth Cultural Centre by Marek Łętowski. The Czech project partner is the “Blues nad Becvou” association, while the vocalists are members of a choir from Prerov.
– The workshops were created for the studios we have at the Youth Cultural Centre. They are fantastic studios, and we want to create projects for each of them. We are carrying out a vocal project first, because we have two INIEMAMOCNE groups, juniors and seniors, but the time will come for other excellent studios as well. The result of this project will be two concerts. The Saturday concert will take place at the Old Theatre, and there will also be a concert in Prerov, Czech Republic. The Czech one will take place during the city’s traditional Tuesdays with concerts – says MDK Bolesławiec director Dariusz Uściński.
The workshop instructors are Marta Podulka and Daniel Moszczyński.
– We came to the workshops in Bolesławiec without knowing the participants – Marta Podulka says about the workshops. – Some of the participants study at the Youth Cultural Centre with Marek Łętowski. The group is talented and strong, and very quickly understood what dividing into vocal parts was about, and these were not simple songs. As a result, we were very pleasantly surprised – the artist adds.
Final workshop concert: Old Theatre
The workshop leaders do not hide the fact that they are nervous about how Saturday’s concert, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Old Theatre on Saturday, August 7, will turn out.
– After today’s rehearsal, it was as if a weight had been lifted from our hearts – says Daniel Moszczyński. – We can see that there is good energy and commitment – the instructor adds.
Marta Podulka, who came up with the concert programme, adds that composing such a performance after the workshops is a complicated task.
– The most difficult task for an instructor leading workshops that end with a concert is planning the repertoire. A viewer watching the concert should remain interested and engaged throughout, and the songs should be ones the young people want to sing and enjoy. You have to choose pieces that will inspire them, draw energy from them and encourage free interpretation and play on stage. The third thing is that they must be songs in which the voices can be divided, where choral harmony will sound good in the arrangement. Because our Polish-Czech workshop ensemble is an unusual kind of choir – Marta explains and adds: – At the concert we will sing songs by wonderful artists, but we will also perform original songs. Importantly, my favourite original band, Bibobit, will appear. It will be an amazing event, especially because we will see the incredible vocalist Daniel Moszczyński, who will sing two numbers, “Wilk” and “Astronauta,” and I cannot wait to dance and jump backstage right up to the ceiling – Marta promotes Saturday’s concert.
Daniel confirms that Saturday will bring a musical and emotional roller coaster. The repertoire includes songs by Mietek Szcześniak, Michael Jackson, Mrozu, Grechuta and, of course, songs by Marta Podulka and Daniel Moszczyński.
– We will stroke and embrace people, and then we will bring them into euphoria – Daniel promises.
The concert repertoire is ambitious, accessible and energetic.
The songs selected by Marta Podulka constitute an ambitious repertoire.
– These are difficult songs, numbers that professionals would have trouble with – says the singer. – They contain difficult rhythmic divisions and challenging vocal harmonies, as in Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” It is a gospel version in which the chorus is different each time – Marta explains.
– Remembering the structure of the song is very difficult: sopranos enter here, altos there, and then the soloist sings. There are many modulation traps – Daniel adds.
– These are very complicated songs – Marta confirms. – At first I was terrified that I had chosen pieces that were too difficult. But the vocalists managed, and I am delighted with them. A bow to Marek Łętowski’s music studio, a bow to the Czech choir from Prerov, and also a bow to everyone at the Youth Cultural Centre. To the entire team, because everyone was wonderfully prepared here. The Czech group was excellently prepared. They already knew the lyrics to all the songs. This is great cooperation with the people who lead both ensembles, Polish and Czech. We have all the lyrics printed, so we do not have to worry that someone did not receive an email with a recording; everything is buttoned up – Marta adds.
A beautiful team like a family from the Youth Cultural Centre
The workshop leaders stress that during the workshops they feel like one big family, and everyone is trying to make Saturday’s concert special.
– The comfort we have here means that we do not have to focus on anything else, only on our work with the children and young people. This is thanks to the wonderful MDK team – the instructors confirm.
– Unusual, non-standard things are happening at these workshops, and there is great energy in the air – says Daniel Moszczyński.
– Daniel opened them up incredibly – Marta adds. – When we are dealing with a new instructor, the students are initially very closed off and stressed. They are afraid to approach the microphone, open their mouths and sing. They are practically paralysed. It depends on us, the teachers, and on our ability to create a homelike atmosphere so that they open up. That is why I am the aunt, and Daniel here is the super uncle. Even for the older students, we are like a family. Daniel did a great job opening these young people up so much that they began improvising and coming up with phrases for the song – the instructor praises her colleague.
– The whole idea of working with young people is to find the key to them, not to use shortcuts, but to get to know them. One person will be more withdrawn, another more courageous; a third may clearly have greater talent today, while another may have less talent but other strengths. We want to water what is beautiful in them and let these flowers grow – Moszczyński says about his approach to the workshops. – Everyone has weaknesses, and they need to be sifted through a sieve so that we use what is beautiful and do not use what is not beautiful. They must be aware of this. We are here to tell them: this is good, great, keep doing that, while perhaps doing a little less of this – the instructor explains.
An original song will be created after the Polish-Czech workshops
– Part of the workshops was a task for the participants to write a song themselves – Daniel says. – We set ourselves a very difficult task, but I hope we managed to accomplish it. We arranged things to draw as much creativity and inventiveness as possible from the female and male vocalists. We wanted to show that writing a song is not easy, but that it is something that can be done. You only need to shift something in your way of thinking – the instructor says about the project.
Marta Podulka – vocalist, composer and graduate of the Academy of Music in Poznań, associated with the Poznań band 7sekund and currently performing solo. A finalist in the Mam Talent and X Factor competitions, she has released the original album “Nie przeszkadzać,” which includes the hits “Nieodkryty ląd” and “Mocna,” heavily promoted by radio stations.
Daniel Moszczyński – singer, session musician, composer, lyricist and music producer. Co-creator of the hip-hop-jazz group Bibobit and the rock-funk group Omni mOdO. Previously known from the first Polish boy band JUST 5, with which he released the major late-1990s hit “Kolorowe sny.” After his time with Just 5, the artist turned toward jazz music, working as a session musician, composer, lyricist and music producer. He composed, among others, for AudioFeels, Kasia K8 Rościńska, Kasia Wilk and finalists of TVN’s Mam Talent programme. He also collaborated with Urszula Dudziak, who recorded the song “Plotka” with Bibobit.
The project “Vocal Encounters – Polish-Czech Music Workshops” is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and by state budget funds via the Nysa Euroregion.
