Marcin Józef Żebrowski Music School Complex in Częstochowa
Symphony Orchestra of the Marcin Józef Żebrowski Music School Complex in Częstochowa
Zygmunt Nitkiewicz conductor
Symphony Orchestra of the Marcin Józef Żebrowski Music School Complex in Częstochowa
The history of the ensemble goes back 20 years and its formation is linked to the opening of the Music High School (currently State General Secondary Music School) in Częstochowa. Orchestra playing is a mandatory course in the school, so there is a continuous rotation of players.
The orchestra was conducted by, among others, Bolesław Ocias and Krzysztof Pośpiech. It is curently directed by Zygmunt Nitkiewicz.
The orchestra performs 5 to 8 concerts in the course of the school year, with the repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary, from chamber works to those for full symphony orchestra. The orchestra does not pass by operatic and sacred music or vocal works, working in close cooperation with the mixed choir of the Music School Complex. They also play works for orchestra and soloist.
In 2011, the string ensemble won a special prize at the 1st National Chamber Orchestra Competition in Radom for its performance of a Concerto Grosso by A. Corelli.
The orchestra performs regularly in Częstochowa (at the Philharmonic, in the Basilica at Jasna Góra, in the Club of the University of Technology) and in the vicinity of the city.
During its tours abroad it has performed in France, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
Many students in the ensemble have acquired a wealth of experience by playing in the Polish-German Young Philharmonic, in the Orchestra of international meetings of musical youth in Neumarkt and in the Aukso Young Philharmonic.
The Orchestra performed French music at the La Folle Journée Festival in 2013. In May it made a recording of the music of Schubert, Chopin and Moniuszko. The recording will take part in the web National Competition of Secondary Music School Orchestras, organised by the Academy of Film & Television together with Programme 2 of Polish Radio, Gazeta Wyborcza, the Centre for Artistic Education and the Education & Music Foundation.
Zygmunt Nitkiewicz conductor
Zygmunt Nitkiewicz is the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Marcin Józef Żebrowski Music School Complex in Częstochowa. He conducts the Orchestra regularly in Częstochowa, in the region and also nationwide (e.g. in Radom and in Warsaw at the La Folle Journée Festival in 2013).
Nitkiewicz graduated from the school in which he currently works, in the percussion class of Stanisław Zasowski. In 2004 he graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin academy of Music in Warsaw in the symphonic and opera conducting class of Professor Ryszard Dudek.
He has performed a number of times with the Symphony Orchestra of the Częstochowa Philharmonic, with the Lower Silesian Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra, the Toruń Chamber Orchestra and with the orchestra and choir of the Mozart 2003 Society. He took part in the Witold Lutosławski 3rd National and 4th International Review of Young Conductors organised by the Podlaska Philharmonic in Białystok. He also participated in master classes led by maestro Kurt Masur and by maestro Jerzy Salwarowski.
