10/12/2025
✨🎶✨On 3–6 December 2025, our Academy hosted the jubilee tenth edition of the International Choral Conducting Tournament “Towards Polyphony” – the only competition in Poland for young conducting adepts with such a high and well-established prestige. The event, in keeping with tradition, culminated in a ceremonial Winners’ Concert, during which the laureates of this year’s edition performed.
A total of 41 young conductors from 12 countries around the world applied to take part in the Tournament. After verifying all applications, 16 participants representing China, France, Georgia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Hungary were admitted🤩
The competition, spread over three stages, allowed the jurors to assess both conducting technique and musicality, artistic personality, and effectiveness in working with an ensemble. Eight contestants advanced to the second stage, and five of the highest-scoring participants reached the final.
Main Prizes
🏅1st Prize – Jakob Ivačič (Slovenia)
🏅2nd Prize – Aistė Krivickaitė (Lithuania)
🏅3rd Prize – Karol Knapiński (Poland)
Distinctions
🏆 Jean Fortunier-Cateland (France)
🏆 Dominika Nakielna (Poland)
Special Prizes
✨ Jakob Ivačič (Slovenia) – Prize of the Siauliai State Chamber Choir “Polifonija” (Lithuania): concert in November 2026
✨ Jakob Ivačič (Slovenia) and Karol Knapiński (Poland) – Special Prize of the choir Cantores Minores Wratislavienses: concert in the 2026/2027 season
✨ Jakob Ivačič (Slovenia) – Prize for the best performance of early music, funded by the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Austria, Dr Edward Wąsiewicz
✨ Aistė Krivickaitė (Lithuania) – Prize of the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania, Tomasz Artur Kosoń, for the Laureate from Lithuania
✨ Jakob Ivačič (Slovenia) – Prize of the Tournament Choirs, awarded by the ensembles participating in the Tournament
This year’s edition brought together excellent choral ensembles, which enabled the young conductors to work on a diverse repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to 20th-century works:
🎶 Combined Choirs of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław
🎶 Cantores Minores Wratislavienses
🎶 Europa Chor Akademie Görlitz
🎶 Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz
🎶 Choir of the National Forum of Music
In total, nearly 200 choristers performed on stage!
The participants’ performances were evaluated by an international jury composed of:
🟥 Chair – Prof. dr hab. Marta Kierska-Witczak – Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław
🟥 Prof. Alois Glaßner – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
🟥 PhD Linas Balandis – Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius (laureate of the 7th Tournament)
🟥 Prof. hon. Jan Hoffmann – Europa Chor Akademie Görlitz, Semperoper Dresden
🟥 Prof. dr hab. Jolanta Szybalska-Matczak – Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław (substituting for Prof. dr hab. Marek Gandecki of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań)
🟥 Jury Secretary: MSc Aleksandra Milcarz – Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław
The professional organisation of the Tournament was supported by a team of nearly 20 volunteers – students of our Academy ❤️🧡💛
The tenth edition of the competition provided a special opportunity to recall the over thirty-year history of the Tournament “Towards Polyphony”, dating back to 1991, when – on the initiative of Prof. Zofia Urbanyi-Krasnodębska – the idea was born to create an event enabling young conductors to engage in artistic confrontation at the highest level.
The creator of the Tournament concept, Prof. Zofia Urbanyi-Krasnodębska, gave it the character of a “noble knightly rivalry”, establishing a symbolic bridge between the choral communities of Eastern and Western Europe. Over three decades, the Tournament has developed, gaining prestige and recognition, and its laureates today shape the global conducting scene, holding significant positions in leading musical institutions.
More than 140 young conductors have taken part in past editions, and the choirs collaborating with the competition – including ensembles from the Wrocław Academy of Music, the NFM Choir, Cantores Minores Wratislavienses, Europa Chor Akademie Görlitz, as well as the choirs of the music academies in Katowice, Poznań, and Bydgoszcz – have created a unique space for education and the exchange of musical experiences.
It is impossible not to mention the outstanding laureates of previous editions, who today co-create the landscape of European choral music, including: Martynas Staškus (1991, Lithuania), Evita Taranda (1999, Latvia), Kaspar Ādamsons (2005, Latvia), Jānis Ljepiņš (2008, Latvia), Alexandr Humala (2011, Belarus), Yuval Weinberg (2014, Israel), Linas Balandis (2016, Lithuania), Heng-Yi Pao (2019, Taiwan), Sophia Khutsishvili (2022, Georgia).
We joyfully await the year 2028 and the next edition of our event, believing that the International Tournament “Towards Polyphony” will once again become a unique celebration of choral art and a space for creative encounters for young conductors from all over the world!🌏🎵✨
