The Flanders International Film Festival Will Host 'Polish Composers in Concert'

Polish Composers in Concert will have its world premiere as part of the Flanders International Film Festival at the Flemish Opera of Ghent on Thursday, October 20th, 2005 in Ghent, Belgium. The National Orchestra of Belgium will be conducted by Dirk Brossé and Krzysztof Herdzin. The first part of the concert will feature a special suite combining music from many scores by Polish composers including Academy Award winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland) and Wojciech Kilar (Dracula), which is specially being written by Krzysztof Herdzin. The second part of the concert consists of an homage to one of Poland's most famous film composers, Zbigniew Preisner, who is the guest of honor for the evening. It will showcase performances by some of the best soloists of Poland including Elzbieta Towarnicka (soprano), Leszek Mozdzer (piano) and Jacek Ostaszewski (recorder). Preisner is considered to be one of the most important of his generation. He built up his reputation as the house composer of director Krzysztof Kieslowski, and composed the music for Kieslowski's films including Trois Couleurs Bleu, Blanc et Rouge (Three colors: Blue, White and Red) and La Double Vie de Véronique (The Double life of Veronique). Preisner is celebrating his 50th birthday this year, a perfect opportunity for the Film Festival to spotlight his career. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek worked his way up in a relatively short time to become one of the most individualistic composers, not only for film, but also in the theatre and television world. His great breakthrough came with the score for Unfaithful (2002), generally considered as one of the best soundtracks of recent years. In 2005 he won the Academy Award for his score for Finding Neverland. Wojciech Kilar is known for his atmospherically sinister score for Dracula. The Polish film composers other credits include Roman Polanski's The Pianist and The Portrait of a Lady. This initiative came about due to collaboration between the Flanders International Film Festival - Ghent and the cultural service of Poland. The University of Ghent is the concert partner. The Flanders International Film Festival is celebrating its 32nd year and takes place October 11-22, 2005 in Ghent, Belgium. Tickets can be purchased by calling +32 9 242 80 60. Admission prices are € 12, € 22, € 32 or € 40 (+€ 2 booking fee). Seats are limited. www.preisner.com
www.jan-ap-kaczmarek.com