Michał Wróblewski – Conductor and Arranger
Wanda Pazdan
22 Jul 2007
fot. P.Kozioł
Michał Wróblewski, conductor, arranger and violinist is a musician with interesting personality. He is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Wrocław, Prof. Marek Pijarowski’s conductor’s class.He started his musical education at the age of 7 in the State Music School of the 1st grade in Wrocław, learning to play the violin. He earned his Professional Instrumentalist Diploma specializing in violin playing, studying under the supervision of an excellent violinist, Prof. Michał Grabarczyk in Poznań. He cultivated his skills by attending international violin competitions with such masters as, among others, Prof. R. Totenberg (USA), R. Szreder (The Netherlands), K. Węgrzyn (Germany) and by attending a conducting course under the guidance of Maestro Kurt Masur. As an attendant of modern music courses, he learned from Prof. S. Esztenyi and Prof. H. Fiore. As a winner of chamber music competitions, he has been involved in this music for many years. Being a member of the groups “Wróblewski – Trio,” “Musica Poetica Nova,” he took part in many festivals (among others “Wratislavia Cantans,” “Where the Fountains Play”) and his performance was often recorded for the needs of the radio, television, and movie industry. Michał Wróblewski conducted music workshops with theatrical groups from Poland and Germany (including graduates of Kolleg für dramatische Kunst in Bremen). His debut as a conductor took place in March 2004, in “Oratorium Marianum” Hall of the University of Wrocław, during the “Clasic Premiere” festival. Wróblewski’s repertoire includes works of each kind of music, from classical to rock music.
The review in AG in 2006 “Rock’n’Rollers in the Wild West” by Grzegorz Cholewa:
“All music projects which tried to smash rock with classical music, were always, as it were, total in their nature. “The Shadows of Wrocław” was no exception. On Sunday over sixty musicians stood on the floor of the hall of the Film Production Company: four-person rock group Nurt and symphonic Visegrád Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, formed by under-age students of music schools in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
A year ago, at the Visegrád Festival, young musicians handled successfully jazz-rock acrobatics of Voo Voo – now they had to face the rock classics. This time led by Michał Wróblewski, symphonists played with admirable discipline, vigor, and rock gusto, seasoning almost half-century-old hits with completely new emotions.Very original arrangements were astonishing. A large part of the credit goes to the conductor who had been preparing the orchestra for almost half a year for the Sunday concert. Michał Wróblewski’s contribution to independence of the arrangements is obvious – the group and orchestra matched perfectly and complemented each other. On the other hand – if their parts were listened to independently from each other, the effect would be equally interesting and complete.Overall, seventeen pieces were played, most from the repertoire of the legendary group The Shadows: “Atlantis,” “Wonderful Land,” “Guitar Tango,” “Apache,” “Kon Tiki,” and “Man of Mystery.” Moreover, there was a standard Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” and a beautiful version of the Beatles’ “Michelle.” As befitting for such oldish songs, everything was enshrouded in a beat music atmosphere. Although tuneful and catchy melodies notoriously got into almost cowboy style, the audience had no objections at all. Several hundred people, most of whom likely remember the times of The Shadows, went wild with enthusiasm, at the end refusing to let the musicians leave the stage!The Sunday concert “The Shadows of Wrocław” is a dream come true for Alek Mrożek, the guitarist from Wrocław, who had waited for it for years. The project proved to be a complete success but the valid question is: what’s next? A CD or DVD? A series of exclusive concerts? Such a trip into the old times of the world rock has a universal value.”
