La Folle Journée 2014 – Educational Projects
As in previous years, there are many education-related activities lined up for the audience of this year’s edition of the La Folle Journée de Varsovie Festival. These include concerts by young performers, special concerts for children and their families (Smykofonia Dixieland and Smykofonia in America, Meeting with Instruments and, for the first time in the programme of the Festival – a discussion with experts devoted to musical education in the United States.
The mission of the international La Folle Journée Festival is to popularise classical music among listeners of all ages. For the past several years, the Warsaw edition of the festival has been preceded by the Labyrinth Event, organised by the “Muzyka jest dla wszystkich” [Music is for Everyone] Foundation. This is a cycle of three month workshops linked with the programme of the La Folle Journée Festival. The workshops are intended for students of early elementary schools and for teachers. Each year, the event enjoys great popularity. In the years 2010-2013 a total of 11 750 students from schools in Warsaw and in the mazowieckie voivodship participated.
Under the artistic patronage of the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, the Foundation also organises musical meetings for the youngest listeners under the name of Smykofonia [The Toddler Philharmonic]. These concerts, and all of the 2014 edition of La Folle Journée will have a distinctly American flavour. The meetings have been divided into those for children aged 0-2 and for those aged 2-5. Smykofonia Dixieland will present young listeners with melodies inspired by early jazz, ragtime, swing and blues performed by artists of the “Creative Education Foundation” and by “Dixi Company”. On the other hand, Smykofonia in America will feature not only popular music, but also classical works. The concerts will be hosted by Ada Wdziękońska and by Miłosz and Jolanta Gawryłkiewicz. Smykofonia Dixieland takes place on Saturday, while Smykofonia in America will pleasantly occupy your Sunday morning. The importance which the organisers attach to the Toddler Philharmonic concerts is evident in the fact that the concerts are performed by some of the best Polish musicians. This year these will include Andrzej Jagodziński and Adam Cegielski.
All those interested in musical education are invited to attend a meeting called American Music Education as recounted by students and observers. The discussion will be held on the second day of the Festival, at 6:30 p.m. in the Wild West hall. The meeting will feature persons who have come to know American musical education from their own experience and who will share their knowledge and views. There will be short films screened during the discussion. The meeting is organised by the “Muzyka jest dla wszystkich” Foundation.
We invite both children and adults to the Meeting with Instruments on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the foyer next to Hollywood hall. This project is hosted by the Silesia Music Center company, who has been working with the Festival since its first edition. During the demonstration it will not only be possible to look at, but also to play musical instruments made by many well-known makers!
The 5th edition of the La Folle Journée Festival is an opportunity to showcase the best students from Polish music schools. This year, these will be soloists and school orchestras from Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Częstochowa, Lublin, Warsaw, Wrocław, Łódź, Cracow and Bielsko-Biała. The Young Performers concerts will take place in the Matrix tent and in other auditoriums of the National Opera on each day of the Festival. Selected music school students will also perform at the Final Concert on Sunday at 8:00 p.m., sharing music stands with musicians of the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra. Previous festival concerts featured participants of the two previous editions of the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy – a cycle of workshops held by concertmasters and soloists of the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra.
The programme of the La Folle Journée Festival 2014 also includes educational events for listeners of all ages. We are convinced that the accessible and attractive form of the festival will make the festival not only good fun, but will also be an opportunity to establish close contact with music.
Tickets priced 7 – 12 zł are available in the box office of Teatr Wielki – National Opera, on the web: www.teatrwielki.pl and www.ebilet.pl and in e-Bilet and Empik locations. More details are available at: http://www.2014.szalonednimuzyki.pl/informacje-praktyczne/bilety/
The organisers of the Festival would like to invite everyone to join an adventure with American music!
- The Festival is organised by: Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra, CREA (Centre de Réalisations et d’Études Artistiques à Nantes), “Ogrody Muzyczne” [Musical Gardens] Foundation, with the co-operation of the Grand Theatre-National Opera and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
- Honorary Sponsorship: Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Ms. Małgorzata Omilanowska, the Ambassador of France, Mr Pierre Buhler
- Festival Sponsors: Auchan, Saint-Gobain, Agence Diane du Saillant
- Festival Partners: the Capital City of Warsaw, the Centre for Artistic Education, the Muzyka jest dla wszystkich [Music is for Everyone] Foundation, The Music Teachers’ Association, the Embassy of France, the city of Nantes, Folle Journée de Nantes, the BNP Paribas Foundation, the Sinfonia Varsovia Foundation, Polservice, eBilet.pl, Empik, Silesia Music Center, Kawai, NIFC, Renault, Gigant.pl, No Limit, State Music School Complex No. 1 in Warsaw, Raddisson Blu, Zaiks, Siemens, Weil Gotshal
- Partner for concerts in Matrix Hall: McDonald’s
- Head Media Patron: RMF Classic
- Media Patrons: TVP2, TVP Kultura, TVP Warszawa, Polityka, Polish Market, Gazeta Wyborcza, Gazeta.pl, Culture.pl, Meakultura.pl
La Folle Journée
„Szalone Dni Muzyki” is the Polish edition of the international La Folle Journée festival, founded by its artistic director, René Martin – organiser of festivals and numerous concerts of classical music around the world. He is also the founder of the Centre de Realisations et d’Etudes Artistiques à Nantes (C.R.E.A.). The Festival was held for the first time in Nantes in 1995. Soon, its annual editions moved to Portugal, Spain, Japan, Brazil and Poland. Previous Warsaw editions of La Folle Journee were devoted to the music of Chopin (2010), Brahms, Mahler, Liszt, Strauss and Szymanowski (2011), Russian music (2012) and music of France and Spain (2013). So far, concerts performed by thousands of artists were attended by an audience of more than 130 000, while associated educational activities were attended by a total of approximately 13 000 children from Warsaw’s primary schools.
