Since ancient times, artists have looked to nature for inspiration. The world of nature, which is constantly changing, has provoked the search for new things and often directly influenced the form of the works being composed. Contemporary music has been eagerly using a completely different source of inspiration for a century now, reaching for the sumptuous rhythms and melodies of jazz. Now, when the boundaries separating different genres are even more willingly crossed, it is also easier for artists belonging to both worlds to cooperate.

At the 34th Musica Polonica Nova, such a meeting will take place when LutosAir Quintet joins forces with the versatile trumpeter Piotr Damasiewicz, active on the jazz scene. The reason for their cooperation will be the free space that Paul Preusser left to the performers of his 5 [+1]. In this piece, he allows the twinkling parts of a brass quintet to be combined with the improvisation of an additional musician playing the trumpet. On the Fryderyk-nominated album 5 [+2], LutosAir recorded the work with New York jazzman Nate Wooley. Before we can hear what the group will sound like with Damasiewicz at the festival concert, they will premiere a new piece by Alina Błońska – a composer educated in Wrocław, but living in Spain, a former student of Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil.

Nikolet Burzyńska admits to being inspired by nature in the very title of her composition. The Oak Crown, featuring on 5 [+2], through its form refers to the intertwined branches of a growing tree, its power and cultural connotations. “The music of The Oak Crown is born (...) at the intersection of the nobility of trees and the nobility of humans,” is how the artist explains the idea behind the work premiered in 2017. At the end of the concert, performed by the LutosAir Quintet, we will hear a new piece by Michał Ossowski – also a student of Prof Pstrokońska-Nawratil.