About festival
Feliks Nowowiejski’s International Festival of Choral Music is a cyclical event, which has been taking place in our city for fifteen years. The creator and executor of the festival is the Association for Civil Initiatives in Barczewo in cooperation with other entities.
The first edition took place in 2002 and was directed only to Polish choirs. Since the following year, the formula changed into international and so continues today.
The main aim of the festival is to commemorate figure and work of Feliks Nowowiejski who was a great composer, conductor, organist virtuoso born on 7th February 1877 in Barczewo. He was a creator of operas, oratorio „Quo Vadis”, organ symphonies, vocal and choral pieces, a great patriot and a Pole whose activity was an important factor in shaping the Polish consciousness of the lands of the north in the interwar period.
JURY
Jury of the 25th International Choir Music Festival Feliks Nowowiejski in Barczewo
Assoc. prof. Milan Kolena
Milan Kolena is the artistic director of international choral and orchestral festivals in
Bratislava. He teaches choral conducting and Gregorian chant at the Academy of
Performing Arts in Bratislava. With the Apollo Choir and Schola Gregoriana
Bratislavensis, he has participated in numerous prestigious competitions across
Europe.
Between 2004 and 2006, together with Schola Gregoriana Bratislavensis, he
recorded three CDs of Bratislava Antiphons for the Slovak National Library.
In 2014, he successfully lectured at three American universities — Illinois Wesleyan
University School of Music, University of Missouri School of Music, and Colorado
State University — on the topic: Interpretative Issues of Latin Text in Sacred Choral
Music. In 2016, he led a choral workshop in Kunming, China. In 2018, at the World
Choir Games in South Africa, he conducted a choral workshop titled 100 Legacy
Conductor’s Workshop.
He is also an active chairperson and jury member at national and international choral
competitions across Europe and Asia. In 2014 and 2016, he was a member of the
international juries at the World Choir Games in Riga and Sochi.
At the Singing World festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2015, he was awarded the
title of Best Conductor of the Festival.
Since 2015, he has been a member of the Council of the World Choir Games and
Vice President of the World Choir Association in Hong Kong.
In 2010, he received the Fra Angelico Award for his contribution to Christian values in
music, and in 2017, he was honored with the Chairman’s Award from the Union of
Czech Choirs for his development of international cultural relations in choral music.
In 2018, he won the Grand Prix with the Apollo Choir at the International Music
Festival Moscow Sounds in Russia.
In 2023, he won the Grand Prix with the Apollo Choir at the International Choir
Festival and Competition „ Canco Mediterrania“ Barcelona- Lloret de Mar.
In 2024, he won the Grand Prix with the Apollo Choir at the International Choir
Festival „ Music and Sea“, Paralia, Grecce.
Prof. dr hab. DARIUSZ DYCZEWSKI
Graduate of the Faculty of Music Education at the Academy of Music in Poznań, Postgraduate Studies in Voice Emission, Postgraduate Studies in Choirmastering at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Postgraduate Studies at the Academy of Music in Wrocław in the field of management of educational and cultural institutions.
In the 90s, he founded the Children’s Choir of the Szczecin University of Technology Don-Diri-Don and the Boys’ and Men’s Choir of TVP-Szczecin Pueri Cantores.
He participated in festivals, competitions and music congresses in Europe, as well as in the USA, Canada, the Bahamas, China, Brazil, Venezuela, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Qatar, Australia, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, winning over 80 awards and distinctions. With the choirs, he gave concerts at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Szczecin, Krakow, Berlin and Beijing Philharmonics. In 2019, the choir under the direction of Dariusz Dyczewski took part in the 41st International Competition CHORUS INSIDE CHRISTMAS in Budapest, one of the largest and most prestigious singing events in Europe. The group competed in three categories: sacred music and pop music, in which it received the Golden Diploma, and folk music, in which it received the highest score and won the most important prize – the Grand Prix of the competition. Don Diri Don also won additional awards, including for the best choreography, for the high artistic level of the presented folklore pieces and the award for the best conductor (titled BEST CONDUCTOR). In 2023, at the International Competition CHORUS INSIDE – ESPANIA (LLORET DE MAR), the Don – Diri – Don choir won the Grand Prix and defeated 15 choirs from Spain, Greece, Romania, Moldova, Croatia and Italy. As part of his scientific, artistic and didactic activities, in the years 1991-2010 he was employed at the Academy of Music in Poznań – Branch in Szczecin, where in the term 2004-2010 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Music Education. In the years 2003-2012 he taught classes at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. In the years 2010-2016 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Music Education at the Academy of Art in Szczecin, and in the term 2016-2020 he was the Rector of the University. On November 3, 2011 he received the act of nomination of professor of musical arts granted by the President of the Republic of Poland. He gave lectures in Austria, Italy and the Canary Islands. He sat on the jury in international competitions, including in Slovakia, Lithuania, Italy, Croatia and Spain. He is appointed by the Council of Scientific Excellence as
a reviewer of habilitations and professorships.
Professor Dariusz Dyczewski is also active in the field of artistic education at the first and second level. Since 2010, he has been a consultant at the Centre for Artistic Education in Warsaw. On 30 November 2013, he received a nomination from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for the term of office 2014-2017 to act as
a methodological advisor covering the whole of Poland. In the years 2015-2018, he was a member of the Council for Artistic Education appointed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. He is the director of Leonard Piwonia’s private music schools in Szczecin.
Professor Dariusz Dyczewski is one of the key figures in the Polish choral music community. In 2006, he was appointed artistic director of the International Choral Song Festival in Międzyzdroje – one of the oldest choral festivals in Poland. He is also
a Member of the Artistic Council and a juror of the Legnica Cantat National Choir Tournament. In 2013, he was elected to serve as President of the Polish Association of Choirs and Orchestras in Poland for the term of office 2013 – 2017, and then 2017 – 2021 and 2021 – 2025. He is actively involved as a juror in national choral competitions in Bydgoszcz, Legnica, Barczewo, Międzyzdroje, Kalisz, Łódź, Katowice, Cieszyn, Lublin, Chełmno, Grudziądz, Koszalin, Sława. In the years 2014 – 2024, he was
a member and Chairman of the Presidential Council for Culture at the Mayor of Szczecin. Selected awards and distinctions:
2010 – Silver Medal for Long Service – awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland
2010 – Honorary Badge of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage „Meritorious for Polish Culture”
2010 – Medal of the Commission of National Education – awarded by the Minister of National Education
2016 – Award of the Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship „Pro Arte” for artistic achievements and work for the culture of West Pomerania
2018 – Artistic Award of the City of Szczecin – awarded for significant artistic achievements in 2017
2020 – Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage – for organizational achievements
2020 – Silver Medal „Meritorious for Culture GLORIA ARTIS” – awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
2020 – West Pomeranian Nobel Prize – awarded by the West Pomeranian Science Club
Dawid Ber – conductor, choirmaster, music theorist, and educator
He completed his studies in Music Theory under Professor Franciszek Wesołowski at the G. and K. Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź and completed Postgraduate Choir Conducting Studies at the F. Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz.
Since 2008, he has been employed at the Department of Music Education at the G. and K. Bacewicz Academy of Music in Łódź, where he teaches the choral conducting class, currently under the supervision of a professor at the Academy. Since 2016, he has served as Head of the Department of Music Education.
From 2011 to 2021, he served as Principal Conductor/Choirmaster of the Łódź Philharmonic. Currently, he is the conductor of the Chamber Choir of the Academy of Music in Łódź, the Vivid Singers Chamber Choir, the Lutnia Men’s Choir in Warta, and the Mixed Choir of the Baptist Church in Łódź. From October 2025, he serves Artistic Director of the Polish Radio Choir – Lusławice.
