RONDO KRAKÓW
Composer’s Commission
Project co-financed from the development plan (KPO) as part of Investment A2.5.1: Programme for supporting the activities of entities in the cultural sector and creative industries to stimulate their development
EU funding: PLN 67,490.00
The project includes composing, premiering and recording a musical piece by Karol Osman inspired by the sculptures of Mirosław Baca. The newly created piece, scored for soprano, flute, cello, accordion and percussion, will be premiered during a public presentation of the sculptures at Fort Kosocice and in subsequent exhibitions.
The exhibition of sculptures dedicated to music by Mirosław Baca and the concert including the premiere of a musical work by the Krakow composer Karol Osman with the common title “Rondo Kraków” is a cultural event of high artistic quality addressed to a large number of recipients from various social groups, a presentation of a multidisciplinary project that is the result of many years of formal exploration and cooperation of artists from various fields. Karol Osman’s composition is a piece that, in addition to its artistic value, has an educational and interdisciplinary element. The audience present at the premiere of the piece can observe how seemingly different fields of art, such as sculpture and music, can interact, can also hear how the past and musical tradition are confronted with contemporary performance techniques.
Karol Osman’s composition is inspired by Mirosław Baca’s sculptures, and in particular by sounds associated with the process of working on a sculpture, such as the sounds of a chainsaw, cranes, the rhythm of chisel strikes, falling splinters, chips, breaking wood, and the artist’s physical effort. The mutual correlation between the sculpture and the musical piece will exist not only on the level of inspiration for the process of creating the sculptures, but will also be reflected in the formal structure of the piece, based on repeated motifs, repetitive passages, and musical ideas led in an arc. The newly created piece refers to the form of the rondo, which has its roots in the 14th century music of medieval Europe. The combination of the contemporary means of performance with historical musical form will be an opportunity for reflection and confrontation of the past with the present. Karol Osman (born 1995) composer, teacher, graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków, Faculty of Composition and Music Theory, class of prof. dr hab. Wojciech Widłak, member of the Program Council of the Polish Foundation for the Promotion of Musical Culture, assistant at the Institute of Music of the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce. Currently, Karol Osman is working on his doctorate in composition as an extramural student. The composer’s artistic output includes orchestral, chamber, electronic and theatre, film, radio and podcast works. The composer’s broad creative interests allow him to combine contemporary means of performance with musical tradition. In his work, the composer is particularly interested in issues related to timbre, sound decay and temporality. He developed his compositional skills under the watchful eye of such eminent artists as: Wojciech Widłak, Mateusz Bień, Mario Pagotto, Christina Meißner, Gabriela Ortiz, Ivan Buffa, Zygmunt Krauze, Hanna Kulenty, Richard Bellis, Gavin Greenawa and Patrick Lemmens. The composer’s works have been appreciated in international composition competitions, such as: Marvin Hamlisch Film Scoring Competition, Young Talent Award 2019, New Vision Composition Competition 2018. In addition, the creator’s compositions have been performed many times in Poland and abroad at concerts, composition courses and as part of festivals such as: 30th and 34th International Festival of Krakow Composers, XX International Chopin and Friends Festival in New York – under the honorary patronage of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York, 80th Musica Moderna in Łódź, 25th International Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk, Nowe Epifanie Festival 2022, 55th OFF Kontrapunkt in Szczecin, Open Eyes Art Festival, OFMAT SCKM, National Festival of Young People Alchemia Teatru 2021. 
