Cracow Golden Quintet: - NOSPR

The Cracow Golden Quintet was formed by graduates of Poland’s Academies of Music—soloists, symphonic orchestra musicians, and members of various chamber ensembles:

— Natalia Jarząbek, flute
— Damian Świst, oboe
— Tomasz Sowa, clarinet
— Małgorzata Wygoda, bassoon
— Konrad Gołda, horn

The quintet’s repertoire covers both classical and popular music ranging from the classical era all the way to the contemporary. Besides interpreting works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Nielsen, Jacques Ibert, Samuel Barber, and György Ligeti, among other composers, the group specialise in performing and promoting the musical output of Poland. That particular repertoire, conceived and prepared for the Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów, consists of pieces by Grażyna Bacewicz, Wojciech Kilar, Michał Spisak, and Tadeusz Szeligowski, among others, and is continually extended, especially to include music which has been forgotten and rarely performed onstage. Another field of Cracow Golden Quintet’s activity is premiering and recording 20^th- and 21^st-century works.

Acclaimed both domestically and internationally, the group have earned several awards:

— second prize in the Stanisław Moniuszko International Competition of Polish Music in Rzeszów (2019)
— first prize in the Rome International Music Competition during the Rome Chamber Music Festival (2016)
— first prize in the Madrid International Music Competition (2016)
— first prize in the International Music Competition in London (2015)
— first prize in the International Review of Chamber Music in Jawor (2015)
— first prize in the International Competition ‘Davorin Jenko’ in Belgrad (2015)

Cracow Golden Quintet have been featured at such events as the Alexander Arutiunian International Wind Festival in Armenia, the Crusell Music Festival in Finland, the isa FESTIVAL in Austria, the International Festival ‘Young Artists in Kraków’, or the International Festival ‘Salesian Summer’ in Przemyśl, and have performed in such venues as Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, the Artur Malawski Philharmonic in Rzeszów, or Kraków’s Wawel Royal Castle.

The quintet works with such labels as Poland’s DUX and Austria’s ORF. In 2020, DUX released the ensemble’s first album, featuring works by Polish composers which was nominated for the FRYDERYK 2021 phonographic awards in the Chamber Music Album of the Year category.