Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School in Wrocław
Weronika Ogonowska soprano
Weronika Ogonowska was born in Wrocław. Her great passion for classical music and singing influenced her decision to commence musical education in the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School in Wrocław, where she is currently studying in the solo voice class of Ewa Murawska-Kalinin.
She is a graduate of the Bolesław Krzywousty General Secondary School no. 8 in Wrocław.
Weronika also plays the clarinet. Apart from music, her other passions include film and theatre.
Andrzej Filończyk baritone
Andrzej Filończyk commenced his music education in the year 2000 in the Fryderyk Chopin State Primary Music School in Oleśnica in the piano class of Zdzisława Rychlewska.
He continued in the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School under the tutelage of Joanna Łada-Gębska. From 2011 he has been training his voice in the solo vocal class of Professor Bogdan Makal in the same school.
He has also refined his vocal skills during workshops with renowned teachers, including Professor Włodzimierz Zalewski, Professor Jan Ballarin and at the vocal course in Duszniki Zdrój in 2013 with Professor Ella Susmanek and with Professor Bogdan Makal. He completed the course with an honours diploma.
Filończyk received the 3rd prize at the H. Słonicka National Vocal Arts Competition in Suwałki (2012) and 2nd prize at the Ludomir Różycki National Vocal Competition in Gliwice (2013).
Filończyk performs in many concerts in Poland and has appeared on the stage of the Wrocław Opera many times as a member of the choir.
Choir of the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School in Wrocław
The Choir is a youth ensemble made up of students of the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School in Wrocław studying various specialisations (instruments, rhythmics, voice).
The ensemble takes part in numerous concerts of sacred and chamber music organised in churches and historic interiors in Wrocław and Lower Silesia. Choir rehearsals are attended by all grade one, two and three students who are not obligated to play in the orchestra. The Choir meets once a week for a session lasting three teaching periods. It performs in front of audiences several times a year.
The Choir has worked together with, among others, the Symphony Orchestra of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, the Chamber and Symphony Orchestras of the State Secondary Music School in Wrocław, Gaudium Wrocław University Choir, Consonanza Chamber Choir of the Wrocław University of Technology and the Ars Cantandi Choir of the Academy of Economics in Wrocław. The choir also performed at the Wieczory Tumskie [Tumskie Evenings] concert cycles and at the May Early Music festival (2006). The Choir also worked together with the Symphony Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice, performing J.K. Pawluśkiewicz’s Ludźmierskie Vespers in Warsaw and at the Wawel Castle in Cracow.
The Choir has also performed great works from the sacred music repertoire, including Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Stabat Mater, Fauré’s Requiem (2007, 2012), Stanisław Moniuszko’s Latin Mass (2007), Wojciech Kilar’s Angelus (2008), Mozart’s Requiem (2009), as well as operatic works, including Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, Johann Strauss’ Der Zigeunerbaron and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (performances staged by the Vocal Dept. of the Academy of Music in Wrocław).
The ensemble’s most recent successful ventures include the Golden Angel award (1st place) at the “Lower Silesian Caroling” Music School Choir Review in Świdnica (2012) and a bronze diploma at the “Bel Canto” National Festival of Primary and Secondary Music School Choirs in Ostrów Wielkopolski (2012).
The Choir was established in 1990 and since then was led by many conductors. The ensemble’s artistic director since November 2004 is Artur Wróbel.
Symphony Orchestra of the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School in Wrocław
For student instrumentalists, playing in the orchestra is a foretaste of their future professional activity, an opportunity to confront their notion of a musician’s occupation with reality. The outcome of this confrontation is often positive and results in continuation of the student’s education with a view to playing in professional ensembles.
The Orchestra has one three-hour rehearsal per week. This short time, only sometimes extended by additional meetings, requires extraordinary discipline, especially that there are many artistic obligations. The Orchestra of the State Music School in Wrocław has been in existence nearly as long as the school. Until 2007 it was solely a chamber ensemble consisting mainly of strings. Currently, mainly thanks to the determination of its conductor, it has transformed into a Symphony Orchestra.
The artistic director and conductor of the orchestra since 2004 is Artur Wróbel. Since then, the ensemble has performed in such venues in Wrocław as the Wrocław Philharmonic (as part of the Family Philharmonic concert cycle), Oratorium Marianum – the Music Auditorium of Wrocław University, the National Museum in Wrocław and the Concert Studio of Polish Radio. The orchestra has also performed in many churches in Wrocław and in other cities in Lower Silesia.
The orchestra plays music from various periods, including works by A. Vivaldi, J. Haydn, W. A. Mozart, C. M. von Weber, E. Grieg, S. Moniuszko, P. Tchaikovsky, J. Strauss, P. Mascagni, G. Fauré, J. Williams, A. Piazzolla, R. Bukowski and many others. The ensemble also performs vocal works, including J. Haydn’s Stabat Mater (2006), G. Fauré’s Requiem (2007), S. Moniuszko’s Latin Mass (2007), W. Kilar’s Angelus (2008) and W. A. Mozart’s Requiem (2009).
The orchestra has also played at music festivals, including May with Early Music (2006) and the Wrocław Region Festival (2007, 2008, 2010) and the Young Classic Wratislavia Young Orchestras Festival (2008, 2009,2010). The orchestra also travels extensively. It has completed a tour of Odessa in the Ukraine (June 2008) as part of a Polish-Ukrainian youth exchange program, played at the 3rd International Orchestra and Choir Festival on Lake Garda in Italy (Arco, 2009), where it has performed W. A. Mozart’s Requiem together with the State Music School Choir at the inaugural concert. Since 2009 it has also participated three times in the Eurochestries International Festivals in France and in Poland (2009, 2010, 2011).
The Symphony Orchestra’s latest achievements include commencement of international cooperation with the music school in Erkelenz (Germany) and with the G&J Paczyna Music Atelier. This has resulted in a number of concerts in Poland and in Germany (2009, 2011) and involvement in the COMENIUS International Educational Project, leading to the Orchestra’s tour in partner schools in Erkelenz, Antwerp (Belgium) and in Gavle (Sweden).
Artur Wróbel conductor
Artur Wróbel graduated with honours from the Faculty of Music Education at the Academy of Music in Wrocław in 2004, specialising in Direction of Vocal and Instrumental Ensembles in the conducting class of Professor Alan Urbanek. In 2008 he also completed his master’s degree in Composition in the class of Professor Marek Pijarowski.
He is a laureate of the 10th National Choir Conductors’ Competition in Poznań.
He is currently a lecturer with a doctoral degree in his alma mater, where he teaches conducting and is one of the directors of the Feichtinum Academic Choir.
Since 2004 he has worked at the Ryszard Bukowski State Secondary Music School, where he directs the Symphony Orchestra and Choir.
He has co-operated as conductor with the Symphony Orchestra of the Sudecka Philharmonic in Wałbrzych, with the Chamber Orchestra of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, the Symphony Orchestra of the Lower Silesia Philharmonic in Jelenia Góra and with the Music Theatre in Lublin (musical direction in the premiere of J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus).
In 2006-2008 he was a conductor’s assistant in the Wrocław Opera. He also worked together with the Pro Musica Artistic Agency and with the Silesian Singers and Players ensemble and with the Polish Opera, performing in Germany, Switzerland and Poland.
Artur Wróbel is the music director and conductor of the Cantilena Male Chamber Choir since 2008. He also sits on juries in many international choir festivals and competitions (including St. Petersburg). In 2009 his name was entered into the “Who is Who in Poland” lexicon, which contains biographies of persons in all areas of public life.
He was the organiser and artistic director of the Eurochestries Lower Silesia International Festival in Świeradów Zdrój which presented youth orchestral and choral ensembles. He is currently the artistic director of the Vratislavia Sacra International Choral Music Festival in Wrocław and of the Musical Meetings at the Oblates’, organised by the Cantilena Male Chamber Choir.
Artur Wróbel is the founder and artistic director of the ArtBel Ensemble Symphony Orchestra, which brings together young, ambitious musicians connected with the Academy of Music in Wrocław and the State Secondary Music School in Wrocław. He has performed with the ensemble in Wrocław, Lubiąż, Krefeld (Germany), in Vienna (at the Konzerthaus) and in Riva del Garda (Italy).
