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The Jury of the Polish Music Critics’ Contest KROPKA, after reviewing the texts qualified for the second edition, which we received from numerous editorial offices, blogs, and individuals, decided to award the following prizes for the best text about music in 2015:
1. Main AwardPaweł Siechowicz for the text Frivolity. Bach by Giuliano Carmignoli (“De Musica: critical trials/essais critiques”)
Paweł Siechowicz, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
Magdalena Romańska for the text Between the Sounds (“Music In The City”)
Magdalena Romańska, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
Antoni Michnik for the text “Your Eyes Can Deceive You”: “Star Wars” and Experimental Music (“Glissando”)
Antoni Michnik, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
2. Distinctions – for a newcomerKarolina Dąbek for the text Domesticated Sounds (meakultura.pl)
Karolina Dąbek, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
– for a bloggerDorota Kozińska for the text Fifty-Five Approaches to Death (blog “Phantom in the Opera” atorod.pl)
Dorota Kozińska, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
3. Special AwardJohn Allison for the text King Roger (“Opera Magazine”)
Additionally, within the framework of the contest, the following were awarded: Piotr Metz’s Individual Award for a text on popular musicOlga Drenda for the text The Second Circuit of Polish Song (dwutygodnik.com)
Olga Drenda, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
The Editor-in-Chief’s Award of the Polish Music Publishing House for Karolina Dąbek The MEAKULTURA Foundation Award for outstanding achievements in the field of music criticism for Krzysztof Bilica
Krzysztof Bilica, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
The Jury consisted of: Dr. Daniel Cichy (Chairman) Dr. hab. Maria Pomianowska Dr. Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska Dr. Miłosz Bembinow Dr. Mariusz Gradowski Robert Kamyk Adam Suprynowicz AWARD CEREMONY IN THE SECOND EDITION OF THE CONTESTOn May 12, 2016, at 6:30 PM, at the headquarters of the Polish Music Publishing House in Warsaw, the eagerly awaited award ceremony of the second edition of the Polish Music Critics’ Contest KROPKA took place. The contest was initiated by the MEAKULTURA Foundation. It is the only endeavor of its kind in Poland, conceived by the President of the Foundation, Dr. Marlena Wieczorek.
The contest annually selects the best texts about music, important for Polish music criticism, with its open formula covering various musical genres (from classical to popular music) and styles of expression. It also awards debuting creators who are just beginning their activity in the music market and foreign critics promoting Polish music worldwide.
The open formula of the contest contributes to the integration of the Polish critics’ community, which, due to the vast stylistic diversity and niche character of some musical trends, remains very scattered.
The contest is just one element of the MEAKULTURA Foundation’s activities, a public benefit organization that has supported valuable music and artists in various ways for over three years. Among the most significant initiatives of the Foundation is the publication of the music magazine meakultura.pl, which has published nearly 2000 articles to date, the social campaign Save the Music supporting musical culture with the involvement of fashion and visual arts, and the creation of the portal musicfrompoland.eu, promoting the most important figures associated with Polish music.
The vast number of submissions in all categories, counted in the hundreds, of which over 200 texts reached the hands of the jurors, was a great satisfaction. In this edition, three times more texts were submitted for the Special Award than last year, which testifies to the strengthening position of the contest on the international scene. Submissions came from almost all significant magazines dedicated to classical, jazz, and popular music, both printed and online, as well as from numerous blogs and individuals.
In this year’s Jury, chaired by Dr. Daniel Cichy, a musicologist and music critic, sat personalities associated with the media, cultural institutions, and music colleges. They were: Dr. hab. Maria Pomianowska (multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, professor at the Academy of Music in Kraków), Dr. Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska (musicologist and music journalist, employee of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences), Dr. Miłosz Bembinow (composer and representative of ZAIKS), Dr. Mariusz Gradowski (musicologist, journalist, and music publicist), Robert Kamyk (journalist, producer, musicologist, representative of TVP Kultura), Adam Suprynowicz (journalist, radio presenter, and music critic, representative of PR2). Additionally, the Individual Award was presented by Piotr Metz (journalist, music director of Program III of Polish Radio).
Jury and audience, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
During the official part of the ceremony, short speeches were delivered by: Jury Chairman, PWM Director Daniel Cichy, and Miłosz Bembinow representing the Authors’ Association ZAIKS in the jury. Daniel Cichy recalled, among others, the merits of PWM for Polish music criticism and reflected briefly on the current condition of criticism. Referring to the large number of submissions, he stated that there are people in Poland to write about and things to write about, although we could still wish for more places to publish texts about music.
Dr. Mikołaj Rykowski, Dr. Daniel Cichy, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
Miłosz Bembinow mentioned the culture-creating role of non-governmental organizations and the successful cooperation of the young organization, the MEAKULTURA Foundation, with the nearly hundred-year-old Authors’ Association ZAIKS.
Dr. Miłosz Bembinow, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
All the winners took the floor, emphasizing that the award in the contest means a lot to them, and their success also results from the involvement of other people – friends, family, editors, who believed in their talent and provided them with support at various stages. On behalf of John Allison, the award was received by Paweł Potoroczyn, Director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. He also read a statement sent by the British critic.
Presenting his award, Piotr Metz emphasized that Olga Drenda’s text restores the proper proportions of the discussion surrounding popular Polish songs.
The Gala could not lack music. The sound signal of the contest, which accompanied guests entering the room, was composed by Aleksandra Chmielewska, the winner of the First Prize in the Transatlantyk Instant Composition Contest in 2015, and the entire ceremony was interspersed with performances by two young accordionists, graduates of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw: Andrzej Grzybowski and Przemysław Wojciechowski.
Przemysław Wojciechowski and Andrzej Grzybowski, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
After the ceremony, informal conversations continued for a long time, and the entire event convinced its participants and organizers that the contest’s reach is getting wider, and its rank is strengthening. We now cordially invite you to the next edition of the contest in 2017. Details regarding the third edition will appear successively on the MEAKULTURA Foundation’s website and in the online music magazine meakultura.pl
Winners, jurors, organizers, photo by Bartosz Dąbrowski
The evening was hosted by the Polish Music Publishing House, and the contest received support from the ZAIKS Authors’ Association Creativity Support Fund. The Institute of Music and Dance provided material prizes for the laureates. Prizes in the form of the latest albums were also funded by Warner Classic. The National Centre for Culture held honorary patronage over the ceremony, with TVP Kultura and the Polish Music Information Centre as media patrons.
The Gala was led by Mikołaj Rykowski.
The ceremony was video recorded by LIDEX, and the flowers for the jurors were prepared by Poczta Kwiatowa. The statuette design was created by Ewa Odyjas, and they were produced by ZUW Decor.