Bassem Akiki appointed in Warsaw
Bassem Akiki has been appointed Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw. He will lead the orchestra’s artistic development and shape its direction and programming, with a particular focus on contemporary music, collaborations with young composers and artists, and developing the international profile of Polish music.
Born in Beirut and based in Poland for more than 20 years, Akiki has worked with many of Poland’s leading orchestras and ensembles, while also establishing an international career spanning opera, symphonic and contemporary music. He has conducted numerous world premieres and recently made his debuts with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He held music directorships at the Silesian Opera in Bytom and Wrocław Opera, and currently heads the Conducting Department of the Academy of Music in Wrocław.
Akiki said: ‘The Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw has a unique potential. It brings together the tradition of Polish radio broadcasting with the opportunity to create new artistic projects, recordings and premieres. Together with the musicians, we want to develop this potential and shape the orchestra’s place in contemporary social life. An orchestra is a meeting of many different voices, experiences and personalities. It is through their interplay and collaboration that its identity emerges. Together, we will develop an orchestra in which the music of the past remains alive, the music of our time finds its natural place, and tradition becomes a source of what is being created today.’
Kajetan Prochyra, Director of the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, said: ‘Bassem Akiki is not only an outstanding artist, but an ideal artistic leader for an ensemble like ours – a living ensemble that does not merely play music, but also listens to and engages with the realities of the world around it.’
Akiki will conduct six concerts with the Polish Radio Orchestra this season, beginning on 5 September with the orchestra’s season-opening concert, featuring Agata Zubel’s In the Shade of an Unshed Tear, Sibelius’s Symphony no.7 and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Ivan Karizna.
