The city of music and theatre art

by Ms Magdalena Pawlowska

Slupsk is the city where the past mixes with the present. Culture unites inhabitants, tourists, young and old, businessmen and intellectuals. Thanks to long-time, cyclic cultural events, Slupsk has become famous in Poland and abroad.

The Festival of Polish Piano Music has been taking place here every year since 1967. Its 40^th edition of it took place in 2006. The best Polish pianists of different generations appear on stage. In the history of the festival such artists as Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, Halina Czerny-Stefanska, Piotr Paleczny, Krystian Zimmermann, Krzysztof JabLonski, Lidia GrychtoLwna, Andrzej Jasinski, RafaL Blechacz and others performed.

The Festival of Organ and Chamber Music is equally famous. The Festival takes place in the mystic scenery of the castle church. It is the international event highlighting the significance of music's role for the city. It is possible to listen to the virtuosos of the organ play, choirs, vocalists, instrumentalists and famous chamber groups, both from Poland and from abroad.

Every year Komeda Jazz Festival, devoted to Krzysztof Komeda - a worldwide famous jazzman, instrumentalist, composer, great European from Slupsk, is organized here. Artists from all over the world come to the festival and it gathers enormous crowds of fans. "Niemen Non Stop" Festival, the only festival in Poland during which young people perform repertoire by Czeslaw Niemen, a famous Polish artist, was introduced last year.

Not only music but also the art attracts inhabitants and tourists. The Puppet Theatre "Tecza" is the organizer of international festivals of puppet theaters Eurofest. The Amateur Theatre "Rondo" prepares big out-door shows, which attract thousands of people.

The Polish Philharmony "Sinfonia Baltica" under the direction of Bohdan Jarmolowicz, was nominated to the Grammy Prize in 1998, and has come to the top. It gives concerts in the country and abroad.

In summer season many mass events are organized in different places of the city. SLupsk has to integrate its inhabitants and build its specific solidarity to develop.