The children and the youth sang Polish songs

Even though the excitement after the Eurovision has faded away, new strong emotions accompanied the participants of the XVII Festival of Polish Song for children and youth.

Before the competition started, the last rehearsal and attempts to fight the stage fright had place. On 18th May, for the final audition, the participants came from districts of Šalčininkai, Vilnius, Švenčionys, Trakai, and the city of Vilnius. The audition took place in the hall of Polish Cultural Center in Vilnius and was organized by the Association of Teachers of Polish Schools in Lithuania, named “Macierz Szkolna”.

The artists dedicated their performances to their beloved mothers. Over seventy participants performed in the final in various age categories: soloists up to the age of 8, 8-11, 11-13, 13-16 and the oldest soloists; up to the age of 18.

The attendees of the XVII Festival of Polish Song for children and youth were welcomed by I solicitor of Consular Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Vilnius – Monika Zuchniak-Pazdan, and the chairman of the “Macierz Szkolna” – Józef Kwiatkowski.

The festival was attended by such honorable guests as Artur Ludkowski – solicitor of LLRA (Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania) in the local government, executive of the Polish Cultural Center in Vilnius; Apolonia Skakowska, the chairperson of Cultural Center of Poland of Stanisław Moniuszko, Lilia Kiejzik, the manager and director of the Polish Theatrical Studio in Vilnius, Irena Litwinowicz, the director of Polish Theatre in Vilnius, Włodzimierz Saszenko, executive and initiator of the festival.

This year, the presentations of the participants were judged by the jury: Barbara Kolago, musician, composer, journalist, a member of the International Chapter of “The Order of Smile”, the leader of the jury; Alfreda Ciechanowicz, music teacher, expert, Asta Rauduvaitė, music lecturer at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences.

The auditions started from the youngest group. However, despite their young age, the artists had great self-confidence and felt comfortable on the stage. What is the most important, they performed the songs in beautiful ways. After the solo performances, the artists got well-deserved applause from the audience and supportive pedagogues, instructors and parents. 7 years old Paulina Graužinytė, first-grader of Kindergarten-School “Źródełko”, after the performance told us that this was her second time on the festival. Last time, she was 2nd and got a dream award – tablet. Thanks to that, now she can listen to and learn new songs. Together with her music teacher – Ludwika Bulkiewicz, she prepared atmospheric song about “the Catty world”

10 year old Marzena Bużyńska from the Branch of Early School Education in Grigaičių of Rafał Kalinowski Junior High School in Nemėžis made a pretty ambitious step and on the festival stage sang Anna German’s song “Tańczące Eurydyki”. Aged 5, she has already stood on stage and her music teacher noticed her incredible talent.
– This girl has an amazing talent, she loves music and feels it. Not every adult can sing with such precision as she can. She has been also noticed in music school. She participates in various competitions. She might be small but she is already known – Bożena Czerniawska told to “Kurier” .
How did Marzena handle such a serious challenge as performing the song “Tańczące Eurydyki” is?
– I had to train a lot, I tried to be as Anna German so as to make it perfect – told us Marzena.
As her teacher says, the decision about the song the girl made by herself because she likes listening to the songs of Anna German. Also, she likes listening to English music. “Rolling in the Deep” is a piece that she performs as… Adele.
I am always happy that the children sing every year and that every year it is better. Even though, the level of the artists varies, we can notice some gems among them, who sing in tune and whose voices delight us with the beauty of the timbre. If those children continue cultivating, they will certainly enjoy a great future – said after the audition of the young groups Alfreda Ciechanowicz – a member of the jury.