Vocal workshops held at the Youth Cultural Center in Bolesławiec were an idea for developing local musical talent.
– At the Youth Cultural Center, we have fantastic studios and want to create projects for each of them. We are starting with a vocal project because we have two INIEMAMOCNE ensembles, junior and senior, but the time will come for other excellent studios as well, says Dariusz Uściński, director of the Youth Cultural Center in Bolesławiec Dariusz Uściński.
The project, funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and by state-budget funds via Euroregion Nysa, was written and implemented by the Youth Cultural Center, an institution of the Bolesławiec district authorities. District head Tomasz Gabrysiak was invited to the concert and said that he had never before seen such an enthusiastic and well-prepared event at the Old Theater.
The “Vocal Encounters – Polish-Czech Music Workshops” project resulted in two concerts: one on August 7 at the Old Theater in Bolesławiec and another in Přerov, Czech Republic, on August 10. The Czech concert will take place as part of the musical Tuesdays featuring concerts in the city.
The songs selected by Marta Podulka for the concert formed an ambitious repertoire. In addition, well-known songs were arranged in new ways to showcase the vocal abilities of the young singers. The workshop participants’ performance of a dozen or so songs from Polish and Czech repertoires moved the audience gathered at the Old Theater to dance.
The program included, among others, Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror,” Agnieszka Osiecka’s “Małgośka (Marketka)” in its Czech version, an excellent arrangement of Marek Grechuta’s “Dni których jeszcze nie znamy,” Pharrell Williams’s “Happy,” Jaromír Nohavica’s “Zatańci,” and songs by the instructors Marta Podulka and Daniel Moszczyński.
What was exceptional was that the 25 workshop participants had never sung or played together before. After five days of workshops, the concert reached such a high level for several reasons emphasized by the instructors: the singers’ talent and the excellent preparation provided in Poland by Marek Łętowski and by the Czech choir instructors in Přerov.
Marta Podulka spoke about her students as follows:
– The group is talented and strong, and they very quickly understood how vocal parts work, even though these were not simple songs. As a result, we were very pleasantly surprised by their level, the artist added.
During the concert, it was clear that the instructors were proud of their students. It was evident how much they cared for them and how important it was to them that this further stage experience be as valuable and welcoming as possible for the children and young people. At the same time, it became clear during the concert that the high standard of this artistic event exceeded all expectations. The young people sang from the heart, showing how diligently and passionately they had worked during the workshops.
At the end, after two encores, the young people presented an original song they had written during the workshops. The self-written song of the Polish-Czech workshops, “I Want to Sing, Dance, Not Fight,” brought the performance at the Old Theater to a spectacular close.
The singers were accompanied by the musicians of Bibobit, known for their debut single “Plotka” with Urszula Dudziak. The band has performed at festivals including Orange Warsaw Festival, Kaliningrad City Jazz, Enea Spring Break, Slot Art and Męskie Granie 2019.
The “Vocal Encounters – Polish-Czech Music Workshops” project is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and by state-budget funds via Euroregion Nysa.
