Participants Universitas Cantat 2024
Adam Mickiewicz University Chamber Choir, POLAND
Conductor: prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Szydzisz
Adam Mickiewicz University Chamber Choir
The AMU Chamber Choir led by Prof. Krzysztof Szydzisz has been performing on stage since 1992. The choir brings together AMU students and people of all walks of life who share a passion for singing. All that is required is an appreciation of choral music, the will to develop one’s talent and artistic sensitivity. The choir is known for the diversity of its music – they perform a cappella pieces as well as vocal and instrumental forms of all epochs. Although the ensemble sings in various languages, it also successfully promotes Polish music. The AMU Chamber Choir is a double Grand Prix winner of the Polish Choir Tournament “Legnica Cantat” and the laureate of a number of festivals held in Międzyzdroje, Suwałki, Llangollen (UK), Malta, Vienna, Busan (South Korea) and Oslo.
AMU Chamber Choir’s position on the international stage is the result of systematic and consistent work on vocal production under the careful supervision of Prof. Krzysztof Szydzisz – choirmaster, musicologist, speech therapist, cultural manager, head of the Department of Voice Production at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and an esteemed adjudicator at both Polish and international choir competitions. The ensemble, established by Prof. Szydzisz, is well-known for exceptionally blended tone quality and a thoughtful choice of repertoire. Every piece is prepared with a professional attitude and care for the high artistic level of concerts.
The second conductor of the ensemble is Prof. AMU Joanna Piech-Sławecka, Ph.D. - choirmaster, oboist, speech therapist, vocal production instructor, and above all - an active chorister. She co-manages the group's rehearsals and concerts, is the president of AMU Chamber Choir Friends' Association, and a lecturer at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, where she teaches a choral conducting class.
The AMU Chamber Choir makes a significant contribution to the cultural life of Adam Mickiewicz University, where every important academic ceremony calls for a choral music setting. The choir has performed during events organised for such figures as Pope John Paul II, Julia Hartwig and Al Gore.
Every two years the choir organises the International Festival of University Choirs “Universitas Cantat” (with Prof. Krzysztof Szydzisz as its director), dedicated to university choirs and orchestras. Since 1998 concert halls in Wielkopolska have hosted more than a hundred choirs from all over the world. More than ten great vocal and instrumental pieces have been premiered during the festival, including the works by: Krzesimir Dębski, Paweł Łukaszewski, Romuald Twardowski, Miłosz Bembinow, Jacek Sykulski, Marek Jasiński, Zbigniew Kozub and Zuzanna Koziej.
The choir regularly organises the New Year’s Concert, AMU Rector’s May Concert and presents its new repertoire in the Adam Mickiewicz University Hall (over the past years the performed pieces included Latin American, Jewish and Gypsy music, Argentine tango and songs based on Julian Tuwim’s poems). The choir also contributes to the student life of Poznań by taking part in Akademickie Gorzkie Żale (Academic Lent Mass) in the Franciscan church and performing in the Poznań Christmas Carol Festival. The ensemble has organized several editions of the Ball for AMU Chamber Choir Friends in the beautiful interior of Collegium Maius. Another notable initiative is the Spring Concert, held every year in the lobby of Collegium Chemicum Novum. More and more often dramatic elements are added to music during concerts, thus creating a whole new kind of show, often prepared in collaboration with distinguished guests.
Indeed, the choir loves working with renowned musicians, actors and important institutions. The artists with whom the choir performed on the stage, and quite often also in the recording studio, include: illustrious opera singers: Jarosław Bręk, Iwona Hossa, Artur Ruciński, Elżbieta Towarnicka, Małgorzata Walewska, Agata Zubel; vocalists: Ewa Bem, Sebastian Karpiel-Bułecka, Stanisław Soyka, Magda Umer; actors: Janusz Andrzejewski, Zbigniew Grochal, Andrzej Lajborek, Andrzej Poniedzielski, Jürgen Müller with the La Fura Dels Baus theatre; instrumentalists: Jan Adamczewski, Bogdan Hołownia, Jarosław Kostka, Waldemar Malicki, Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi; composers: Martín Palmeri, Paco Peňa, Jacek Sykulski; orchestras and ensembles: Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Toruń Philharmonic Orchestra, Opole Philharmonic Orchestra, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of the Polish Radio, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Hilliard Ensemble; conductors: Łukasz Borowicz, Agnieszka Duczmal, Marek Pijarowski, Jerzy Salwarowski, Marcin Sompoliński, Stefan Stuligrosz and many foreign conductors, friends of the choir such as Susan Moninger (USA) and Fernando Gil Estrada (Ecuador).
The AMU Chamber Choirs actively performs abroad – it gave concerts in the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Ireland, Georgia, Serbia, Lithuania, Malta, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, the Vatican, the United Kingdom and Italy, but also in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Australia and South Korea. Each trip brings new friendships and…new music. But the choir leaves its own music behind as well, with such albums as ”Tobie i sobie śpiewam” (2003), ”Piosenka jest dobra na wszystko. Piosenki Starszych Panów” (2005), ”Florilegium” (2007) and ”The Spirit of Tango. Misa a Buenos Aires” (2014), “Tworzeni dźwiękiem” / ”Shaped by sound” (2017). In the jubilee year of 2022, the Chamber Choir of Adam Mickiewicz University celebrates its thirtieth anniversary. On this occasion the choir's latest album, ”Musography”, will be released.
Prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Szydzisz
Choirmaster, musicologist, vocal pedagogy specialist, speech-language therapist and a cultural manager. He is a graduate of the Catholic University of Lublin (musicology), Academy of Music in Poznań (Faculty for Vocal Performance and Acting) and of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz (Choral Conducting). He completed a post-graduate course in ensemble voice production at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and participated in specialist courses for conductors in Slovenia, Denmark, Austria, Germany, the USA and Poland. In addition, he had the opportunity to take part in Eric Ericson's master classes. He also obtained post-graduate certificates in cultural management (School of Cultural Management, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań), higher education management (Faculty of Management and Social Communication, Jagiellonian University, Cracow), speech-language therapy (Special Pedagogy Department, Adam Mickiewicz University) and MBA in Higher Education Management (postgraduate studies) – Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and Poznań University of Economics).
Krzysztof Szydzisz works at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, where he heads the Department of Voice Production, established in 2004. He teaches at numerous workshops and courses for academic teachers, speech-language therapists and choral conductors. Moreover, he is a vocal consultant for many choir ensembles at home and abroad. He served as a music consultant for the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat for the 2013-2015 term. He is also a member of juries at a variety of national and international choir competitions: Legnica Cantat, Canti Veris Praga, IFAS Pardubice, Advent and Christmas Music Festival Praga, Folk Festival in Bratislava, Tonen 2000, World Choir Games, European Music Festival for Young People – Neerpelt, International Choir Festival and the International Choir Festival “Per Musicam ad Astra” in Toruń and others. Since 1998 he has been director of the International Festival of University Choirs Universitas Cantat in Poznań.
His ensemble, the Adam Mickiewicz University Chamber Choir, has given concerts on five continents and in over twenty countries, including Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Ecuador, France, the Czech Republic, Greece, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Peru, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA. Together with the choir he won the first prizes of national and international competitions. He takes interest in a diverse repertoire, 19th to 21st century European choral literature being the most prominent area. As the conductor of the AMU Chamber Choir he has won a number of honourable mentions and awards.
