PARTICIPANTS UNIVERSITAS CANTAT 2019
Adam Mickiewicz University Academic Choir in Poznań, Poland
Conductor: prof. Beata Bielska
Adam Mickiewicz University Academic Choir in Poznań, Poland
amuchoir.poznan.pl
The AMU Academic Choir has fostered the choral traditions of the Wielkopolska province for almost 50 years by showing passionate enthusiasm for singing. It was established in 1966 and initially consisted solely of students and employees of Adam Mickiewicz University. This had changed, however, and today the choir’s ranks are filled with members from different backgrounds, whose singing and commitment prove their love for music. The choir was led by eminent figures of choral arts: Zdzisław Szostak, Stanisław Kulczyński, Henryk Górski, Antoni Grochowski and finally, Jacek Sykulski, a renowned composer, arranger and conductor from Poznań. In autumn 2010 Jacek Sykulski passed on the baton to his long-time assistant, Beata Bielska, graduate of the Faculty of Choral Conducting, Music Education and Church Music in the Academy of Music in Poznań.
Her creative experimentation with music has shaped the unique sound of the ensemble. During concerts, Beata Bielska challenges the choir to make full use of the most sophisticated musical instrument, the human voice. The choir engages in various symphonic projects, from those oriented towards entertainment, such as Tribute to Michael Jackson in collaboration with Jacek Piskorz, Kuba Badach, Natalia Kukulska, Piotr Cugowski and Ania Dąbrowska and the “Audiofeels On the Rocks” project, to ambitious artistic endevours, such as the concert with Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, the Singing Europe 2016 project or the concert “Poland started here" with Placido Domingo.
Some of the choir’s noteworthy awards and special prizes include the first prize at Ohrid International Choir Festival in Macedonia, first prize in the Academic Choir category and Grand Prix of the International Festival Chorus Inside in Croatia, also first prizes in the categories Sacred Music, Entertainment Music and Best Academic Choir at the International Festival Canco Mediterrania in Spain.
The performances of the AMU Academic Choir are an outstanding contribution to the Polish tradition of choral singing. All members of the choir are united by a passion for creativity and development. Bringing joy through singing and sharing a passion for music with the audience is the artistic motto and mission shared by the conductor and all singers of the AMU Academic Choir. Music from heart to heart!
Beata Bielska is a vocalist, choirmaster and pedagogue. She graduated from the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, where she studied in the class of Prof. Magdalena Wdowicka-Mackiewicz in the Faculty of Choral Conducting, Music Education and Church Music. Prior to that she finished the Fryderyk Chopin State Music School in Olsztyn in prof. Józef Bartkowski’s cello class. She formed her first vocal ensemble when she was only 14. After moving to Poznań she enrolled on a course at the Faculty of History of the Adam Mickiewicz University and at the Czesław Niemen Post-secondary Vocal Arts College. Soon after she became a member and soloist of the AMU Academic Choir, back then directed by Jacek Sykulski.
In 2010, after many years of working as Jacek Sykulski's assistant, she became the conductor and artistic director of the AMU Academic Choir.
