The Ukrainian Ensemble Nostri Temporis and the Polish NeoQuartet performed at “Warsaw Autumn”
The concert program featured six world premieres by Ukrainian and Polish composers—Nazariy Stets, Anna Zaradna, Mykhailo Chedryk, Kuba Krzewiński, Polina Pogozha, and Dominik Strycharski.
The Ukrainian portion of the program consisted of three new compositions:
In “Perspectives of the Sky,” Nazarii Stets explores how the same image can take on fundamentally different meanings depending on perspective, and asks: Is it possible to see it again the way we once did?
In “Emotion No. 2: Rush,” Mykhailo Chedryk explores the psychological state of intense, uninterrupted movement. The rhythmic pulse and rapid changes in sound texture convey a state in which perception, action, reaction, and anticipation gradually merge into a single process.
Polina Pogozha’s “a-a-a-i-i-i” was inspired by research into sperm whale communication and its characteristic structured sequences of clicks—the so-called “codas.”
The works by Chedryk and Pogozha were commissioned jointly by the “Warsaw Autumn” Festival and the Ukrainian Institute—they were selected through an open competition held as part of “Dialogue without Borders,” a partnership initiative of the Ukrainian Institute, “Warsaw Autumn,” the Myroslav Skoryk Lviv National Philharmonic, and the NeoArte Association.
“Warsaw Autumn” is one of the oldest international festivals of contemporary music in Central and Eastern Europe. Founded in 1956 by the Polish Composers’ Union, it has served for decades as an important platform for discovering the latest musical trends and as a meeting place for composers and performers from the East and West.
The 69th edition of “Warsaw Autumn” took place from September 18 to 26 under the theme “Signs.” The festival invited audiences to look beyond the auditory and visual surface of the works—to their meanings, structures, and cultural codes.
Photo: Grzegorz Mart