The first stage of the 3rd International Mieczysław Karłowicz Competition has been decided

“There are competitions in which one can receive more than just a prize, such as the possibility of hearing an excellent performance of one’s work or of learning the opinion about it from a sophisticated audience, independent of the jury's decision,” said Aleksander Nowak, chairman of the Jury of the first stage of the 3rd Mieczysław Karłowicz International Composers’ Competition.

The Jury, chaired by Aleksander Nowak and composed of – Szymon Bywalec, Szymon Godziemba-Trytek, Diana Rotaru, and Michał Ziółkowski, evaluated a record number of 284 submissions this year to finally decide that the following works will be included in the final:

• asc / desc – (no) ending – Maciej Kabza (Poland)
• Poiché non vi sarà più notte, né luce di sole – Massimo Lauricella (Italy)
• Sussicran virtual complex – Girolamo Deraco (Italy)
• The Treachery of Images – Emircan Pehlivan (Turkey)
• Three Differential Fantasies – Diego David Cuevas Sanchez (Spain)

Undoubtedly, this confirms the words of the originator of the Competition, ZAiKS’s President Miłosz Bembinow, who, on the occasion of the previous edition, remarked: “I am sure that the next editions of this event, the prestige of which grows from year to year, will continue to enjoy such great interest from creators from all over the world.”

The 3rd edition of the Competition definitely surpassed the previous edition as regards the number of submissions, which only strengthens the organizers’ conviction that the Mieczysław Karłowicz International Composers’ Competition is growing in strength, reaching the whole world. Among those competing were creators from Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen.

The Jury for this year’s edition included composers and a conductor. The latter’s participation, according to Anna Maria Huszcza, secretary of the Jury, is of crucial importance. “The conductor evaluates the scores from a practical point of view and is aware of how many pieces can be prepared in five days, taking into account their complexity, but also the perceptual capacity of the audience. We make sure that the music selection is reasonably diverse so that the program is interesting also for the audience.”

The final of the 3rd Mieczysław Karłowicz International Composers’ Competition will take place on 29 November 2024 at the Szczecin Philharmonic. The orchestra will be conducted by maestro Szymon Bywalec.

The Mieczysław Karłowicz International Composers’ Competition is organized by the Society of Authors ZAiKS and the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin.