Participants Universitas Cantat 2015

The Coro Da Camera Academic Choir of the Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland
Conductor: Barbara Dąbrowska-Silska

The Coro Da Camera Academic Choir of the Poznań University of Life Sciences
 http://www.au.poznan.pl/chor/

The Coro Da Camera Academic Choir of the Poznań University of Life Sciences was established in 1993 on the initiative of the present conductor Barbara Dąbrowska-Silska. Initially, the choir functioned as an association, and then it came under the sponsorship of the then Agricultural Academy. Members of the choir include students and graduates of the University of Life Sciences and other higher education institutions in Poznań.

The choir's repertoire includes a variety of styles and musical forms, ranging from early to contemporary music, from classics to more entertaining, lighter songs. The choir has performed world premieres of contemporary pieces (by Andrzej Hundziak, among others) and was awarded a special prize by the Czech composer Zdenek Lucas for the best performance of his piece Pater Noster at the International Festival Crystalex Chor '97.

Coro da Camera participates actively in university life by singing at academic events and giving concerts in Poznań, elswhere in Poland and abroad: in Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Czech Republic to name a few. It has also successfully participated in many festivals and competitions, both in Poland and abroad, representing Polish musical culture and its Alma Mater. Awards in recent years include:

• The 6th International G.G. Gorczycki Choral Meetings in Chełmno, Poland: second place (2011);
• The 6th Festival of Academic Choirs “Academic carols” in Bydgoszcz, Poland (2014);
• The 8th National Review of Sacred Song “Vox Domini” in Prusice Poland: third place (2014);
• Rimini International Choral Competition in Italy: Bronze Diploma (2014);
• The 6th International Choir Competition "Ars Liturgica" in Gniezno: Silver Diploma (2014).

To mark its 20th anniversary in 2013, the choir performed, in cooperation with the Baroque Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Poznan, Magnificat in G minor by Antonio Vivaldi and released this piece on a celebratory album.

Grażyna Flicińska-Panfil finished the State Primary School of Music and the violin class taught by Prof. Wojciech Maliński's in the State Lyceum of Music in Poznań. She graduated from the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, where she completed the solo singing class under Prof. Stefan Stuligrosz and Prof. Bożena Karłowska. She honed her vocal skills during numerous musical interpretation master classes at home and abroad under the guidance of many teachers, notably Adela Stolte in Potsdam, Germany. She specialises in performing cantata and oratorio works. Grażyna Flicińska-Panfil has cooperated with concert halls and early music ensembles. She performed at international music festivals, including "Wratislavia Cantans” and "Musica Antiqua Europea Orientalis”. Her repertoire includes over 100 cantata and oratorio works, which she performed in nearly 600 concerts in Poland and abroad: in Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Russia and other countries. In 2009 she was awarded the title of Professor of Music by the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński.

Krzysztof Leśniewicz is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Poznań, where he studied in the oboe class of Prof. Mieczysław Koczorowski and in the organ class taught by Prof. Romuald Sroczyński. Currently he is employed at the Stanisław Moniuszko Grand Theatre in Poznań, where he plays the pipe organ, harpsichord, celesta and grand piano. He is a lecturer of pipe organ and liturgical performance at the Archibishopric School of Sacred Music and a teacher at the Music School Complex in Poznań (pipe organ and piano accompaniment classes). He also performs the role of organist in the St. John Vianney Church in the Sołacz district of Poznań. Krzysztof Leśniewicz gives concerts as a soloist and collaborating chamber musican. He cooperates with the Poznań Chamber Cathedral Choir, performing together during ceremonial church services, concerts and recordings. He also cooperated with the Poznań Boys' Choir "Polskie Słowiki" (Polish Nightingales). He performs both at home and abroad.

Marta Panfil is a mezzo-soprano singer. In 2007 she took a music degree at the Vocal Faculty of the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, where she attended Professor Wojciech Maciejewski's solo singing class. In 2013 she was earned a Master's degree with honours. She mastered her vocal skills during numerous vocal master classes at home and abroad under the guidance of many teachers, including Karola Theill, Andrzej Ogórkiewicz, Manfred Schiebel and Ryszard Karczykowski. Her repertoire includes works of such composers as Mozart, Verdi, Pergolesi, Haydn, Beethoven, Saint–Saëns, Vivaldi, Bach, Gorczycki and others. She won 3rd prize at the Imrich Godin International Vocal Competition „Iuventus Canti” in Slovakia, 1st prize at the Karol Kurpiński Song and Aria Vocal Competition in Włoszakowice, she was also a finalist of the 6th Halina Halska-Fijałkowska International Competition in Wrocław. Her debut performance was the role of Third Lady in "The Magic Flute" by W.A. Mozart, staged in the Polish Theatre in Poznań in 2012. A year later she played Marcellina in "The Marriage of Figaro" by W.A. Mozart in the Polish Theatre in Poznań. She has recorded several CD albums in her career. Lidia Łopacińska-Giersz is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where she finished prof. Jarosława Drzewiecki's piano class. She took part in master classes of such teachers as Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and has cooperated with the Pomeranian Filharmonic. She gives concerts at home and abroad. Moreover, she performs as collaborative artist with singers, violinists and cellists.

Lidia Łopacińska-Giersz received the Distinguished Accompanist Award from the Centre for Art Education (Centrum Edukacji Artystycznej). She cooperated with the conductor Prof. Przemysław Pałka, performing as accompanist with the Cantate Deo choir and with young conductors during the Polonia Diaspora Summer in Koszalin. Currently she works as a pedagogue and accompanist in the Mieczysław Karłowicz General Upper-Level School of Music in Poznań. Since 2008, she has been cooperating with Jolanta Kajdasz, with whom she appears during many concerts, including charity performances (for example, in the Wielkopolska Oncological Centre or during events in Zgierz that marked the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day). She also cooperates with the Polish Writers' Union and the Poznań Society of Friends of Sciences, gracing poetry evenings with her performances. She finds great pleasure in teaching piano lessons for children using the innovative Suzuki method.

Sławomir Bronk learned voice technique in Prof. Piotr Kusiewicz's class at the Faculty of Vocal Skills and Acting, Academy of Music in Gdańsk. Currently he is finishing his degree under the guidance of Prof. Grażyna Flicińska-Panfil in the Poznań Academy of Music. As a vocalist, Sławomir Bronk participated in master classes taught by Paul Esswood (UK) and Ingrid Kremling (Germany). As a countertenor he specialises in early music performance and in a oratorio and cantata repertoire He has participated in important music festivals at home and abroad, including: the Intenraiotnal Bach Festival in Świdnica, Forum Musicium in Wrocław, the Early Arts Festival in Białystok. He has performed with many ensembles: Gdynia Chamber Orchestra "Sinfonia Nordica", the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra, Capella Cracoviensis, Concerto Grosso (Berlin), the Koszalin Philharmonic, Kapela Świętogórska and others. He collaborates with early music ensembles: Capella Viridimontana from Zielona Góra, under the direction of Jerzy Markiewicz, and Diletto from Białystok, under the baton of Anna Moniuszko.

  Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Poznaniu, Poland