History
Thanks to the endeavours of Zygmunt Krauze and the “Music Gardens” Foundation, the legendary Course for Composers in Radziejowice (initiated and organized by Polish Society for Contemporary Music in 1980s) was reactivated in 2013. The Course received the name of SYNTHETIS – from the Greek word meaning composer.
Allowing each and every participant to develop their artistic skills and raise their qualifications is the key objective of the Course. For this reason the organizers have decided to put special emphasis on personal interaction between the student and the tutor, therefore the schedule, apart from the collective activities, involves also one-to-one lessons as a form of tuition. The intimate character of the venue provides excellent conditions to create a highly cooperative environment and a creativity-enhancing atmosphere.
Confronting a newly composed piece of music with contrasting worldviews, foreign cultures, and life experiences is a highly significant ingredient of the composition process. This is why maintaining the international character of the Course and facilitating intercultural exchange among people from various countries and continents are particularly important. The chief goal of the International Course for Composers SYNTHETIS, however, is considerable integration of the composing circles and providing a supportive platform for mutual exchange of experiences, knowledge and skills.
Since 2014, the artist(s)-in-residence joined the teaching staff. Each year the course ended with the final concert during which the artist(s) performed selected works of participants. The fragments of these compositions are available at the Recordings tab.
Lecturers:
2013 – Miguel Azguime (Portugal), Cezary Duchnowski (Poland), Zygmunt Krauze (Poland), Mauro Lanza (Italy), Mauricio Sotelo (Spain), Agata Zubel (Poland)
2014 – Chen Yi (China/USA), Paweł Hendrich (Poland), Zygmunt Krauze (Poland), Paul Patterson (UK), Alessandro Solbiati (Italy) and artist-in-residence: Maciej Frąckiewicz (accordion)
2015 – Paweł Hendrich (Poland), Philippe Manoury (France), Martijn Padding (the Netherlands), Simon Steen-Andersen (Denmark), Zhou Long (China/USA) and artist-in-residence: Leszek Lorent (percussion)
2016 – Mark Andre (France/Germany), Wojciech Błażejczyk (Poland), Martin Bresnick (USA), Zygmunt Krauze (Poland), Johannes Kreidler (Germany), artists-in-residence: members of the E-MEX Ensemble (Germany) – Evelin Degen (flute), Joachim Striepens (clarinet), Martin von der Heydt (piano)
2017 – Ramon Lazkano (Spain), Stefan Prins (Belgium), Marco Stroppa (Italy), Agata Zubel (Poland) and artists-in-residence: Ewa Liebchen (flute) and Tadeusz Wielecki (double bass)
2018 – Marta Ptaszyńska (Poland/USA), Mauricio Sotelo (Spain), Ondřej Adámek (Czech Republic/Germany), Johannes Kreidler (Germany) and artists-in-residence: members of the E-MEX Ensemble (Germany) – Burkart Zeller (cello), Joachim Striepens (clarinet), Andreas Roth (trombone), Martin von der Heydt (piano)
2019 – Chaya Czernowin, Justė Janulytė, Zygmunt Krauze, Toshia Hokosawa and artists in residence: , members of the Hashtag Ensemble: Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska (viola), Wojciech Psiuk (saxophone)
2020 – Justė Janulytė, Mark Andre, Ivan Fedele, Zygmunt Krauze
2021 – Paweł Mykietyn, Ondřej Adámek, artists in residence: Michał Górczyński (clarinet), Robert Żelazko (trombone).
2022 – Johannes Kreidler, Marco Stroppa, Mark Andre, Doina Rotaru, members of the Concept Store Quartet: Alicja Pilarczyk (viola), Pablo González Balaguer (saxophone), Nejc Grm (accordion), Guillem Serrano, (percussion).
2023 – Justė Janulytė, Francesco Filidei, Oscar Bianchi, Zygmunt Krauze, members of the Spółdzielnia Muzyczna: Jakub Gucik (cello), Krzysztof Guńka (saxophones), Tomasz Sowa (clarinet)