Participants Universitas Cantat 2024
Chamber Orchestra of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, POLAND
Conductor: dr Aleksander Gref
Chamber Orchestra of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
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Chamber Orchestra of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań was established in 2004 on the initiative of its current conductor, Aleksander Gref. For over a decade of its activity the orchestra has represented AMU by participating in various cultural and social projects as well as performing at academic ceremonies. The orchestra participates in annual concerts organized by the Rector of the AMU: The New Year's Concert and the May Concert, and supports independent musical projects by working with ensembles from Poland and abroad. In 2010, the orchestra took part in a video clip promoting the Foundation Dar Szpiku [The Gift of Bone Marrow], which helps people with blood cancer.
The diverse repertoire of the orchestra includes pieces from the canon of classical music, passionate Argentine tango, entertainment music evergreens and well-known film music themes. So far the ensemble has performed arrangements of compositions by Fryderyk Chopin, Piotr Tchaikovsky, Béla Bartók, Edward Grieg, Johann Brahms, Astor Piazzolla, John Williams, Jerry Bock and many other artists.
Dr Aleksander Gref was born in Poznań. In 1999 he graduated with honours from the Academy of Music in Poznań, where he studied symphonic and operatic conducting with Prof. Renard Czajkowski and Prof. Antoni Gref. Currently he works as an assistant professor at the Academy of Music in Poznań, teaching classes at the Faculty of Composition, Conducting, Theory of Music and Rhythmics and at the Faculty of Instrumental Music.
In 1998 he became a laureate of the 2nd edition of Young Conductors Review in Białystok. In 2003 he was the only contestant from Poland to qualify for the 6th International Conductors' Competition in Sankt Petersburg, reaching the semi-finals. Aleksander Gref is an active conductor both at home and abroad (Germany, Austria, Russia, Switzerland, Spain, France). He has performed with the majority of Polish philharmonic orchestras (e.g the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Wroclaw Philharmonic, the Poznan Philharmonic, the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Krakow and the Baltic Philharmonic in Gdansk) as well as foreign ensembles: L'Ensamble orchestral de Paris, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Symphonic Orchestra Academic Capella of St. Petersburg, and Symphonic Orchestra of the Theater of Opera and Ballet St. Petersburg Conservatory. Since 1999 he has worked as a conductor for the Grand Theater in Poznań where he has been involved in the staging of over 30 operas. He is the conductor of the AMU Chamber Orchestra since 2004. He has also cooperated with the Music Theater in Poznań since 2002. In the same year he received the Artistic Award of the City of Poznań for his achievements in the field of opera and symphony. Aleksander Gref has conducted over 300 operas, operettas, and musical performances as well as over 100 symphonic and chamber concerts. He is also the author of music to many TV advertisements, documentaries and to a TV programme.
