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Artistic activities of the director and conductor Bozena Derwich
 The director and conductor of the Szczecin Boys´Choir "Nightingales", Ms Bozena Derwich
was born in Szczecin. Here she has finished the first and secondary school of music.
She left Szczecin for 5 years, to continue studying music at the Warsaw Academy of Music
with prof. Joseph Bok, a specialist for choral conducting. While studying, she went to
Italy for a year. After graduating in Warsaw, she came back to Szczecin where she started
working as an assistent conductor for the Academic Choir of the Szczecin Technical University.
Since 1979 she has been teaching culture of music at the TU, and from 1980-2000 at the Music College. From 1980-1985 she has been cooperating with two theaters in Szczecin beeing responsible for the musical score of the plays. In the early 80´s she was involved in the underground artistic activities, leading the ensemble "Hiob". 1980-1986, working together with the american conductor Joseph Herter, she organized a group of musicians from Warsaw and Szczecin, that gave significant concerts . 1985 she took part in Europa Cantat in Strasbourg, working with a festival choir of 500 people on the Lukas Passion by K. Penderecki. 1989 she has been chosen as a music assistant at the festival Eurochor-89 in Warsaw. In february 1992, Bozena Derwich qualified for the position of the director and conductor of the Szczecin Boys´Choir Nightingales. After some months of work and a new organisation the choir went to Germany, giving its first concerts there. In november that year Ms Derwich and the choir went to the Philippines, where Ms Derwich was leading choral workshops for conductors from Asia and Australia.  One year later Ms Derwich won the main prize for conductors at the festival Schola Cantorum
in Kalisz. At the same time the Nightingales were given a main prize for choirs at this
festival. 1995 Bozena Derwich was awarded a Prize of the Szczecin City Mayor for extraordinary
achievments in working with children. 1998 she was given the golden award by the Polish
Union of Choirs and Orchestras.The Ministery for Culture entitled her as a meritorious culture
activist.
1999 she was invited to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan to lead workshops for musicians and conductors and the Nightingales were a show choir.In autumn the same year she received from the President of Warsaw an extraordinary medal. At the end of 1999 the Nightingales with Bozena Derwich were chosen to sing at a gala concert at the Congress of Pueri Cantores in Rome. They were one of 110 choirs from all over the world. During this congress Bozena Derwich and her boys were invited to an audience with the Pope John Paul II. On the occasion of Nightingales' 40th birthday was Ms Derwich awarded a Prize of the Szczecin City Mayor for extraordinary achievments in working with children. In 2001 Ms Derwich and the choir went to South America, where she was leading choral workshops for conductors and their choirs in Santiago de Chile. Ms Derwich with her choir participated in The Fifth Children's Choir Biennial Festival in Vina del Mar ( Chile )-as a special guest. From 1970 Ms Derwich is participating very actively in the artistic life of the Academic Choir of the Szczecin Technical University. On the occasion of choir's 40th birthday she prepared and led one of the jubilee concerts (in June 2003). The Academic Choir of the Szczecin Technical University conducted by Bożena Derwich opened also 37th International Choral Song Festival in Międzyzdroje. In June 2003 Bożena Derwich was given The Brown Cross of Merit for her artistic activities by President of the Republic of Poland. Last two years of Ms Derwich's artistic activities brought many concerts with Szczecin Boys' Choir Nightingales in Poland and abroad in such places as: Warsaw, Poznań (Poland), Hannover, Dortmund (Germany), Paris (France), Lessines (Belgium). The turn of 2003 and 2004 in Ms Bożena Derwich's artictic activities brought, first of all, a series of concerts with the "Szczecin Nightingales" both in Poland and abroad, in the following places: Warsaw, Poznań, Hannover, Dortmund, Paris. In 2004 and 2005, Ms Derwich participated, together with the choir, in the International Children's Choir Festival: "Little Musical Dialogues" in Turin, Italy, in a festival of children's choirs and dance groups in Czech Republic (Pribram), and in the concert "The River's Flow, the Years' flow" on the 60th anniversary of Polish Szczecin. In December 2005, the "Szczecin Nightingales", directed by Ms Bożena Derwich, ceremonially celebrated their 45th anniversary of artistic activity. The anniversary concerts took place in Szczecin Concert Hall and in the Dukes of Pomerania Castle in Szczecin. The "Nightingales," together with choirs invited from Prague, Czech Republic, and Warsaw, and also with the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra, performed "Chichester Psalms" by L.Bernstein. In January 2006, the "Szczecin Nightingales," directed by Ms Bożena Derwich, performed, together with the Academic Choir of the Szczecin Technical University, a concert of carols and pastorals in the St. Jacob's Cathedral in Szczecin In April 2006, the choir, together with actors from Szczecin theatres, participated in "The Mystery of Christ's Passion." The performance was broadcast on the TVP3 Szczecin In June 2006, the choir, directed by Ms Bożena Derwich, performed two concerts a cappella in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, on the 25th anniversary of the Knabenchor der Singakademie Frankfurt choir's artistic activity. The director Bożena Derwich continuously manages the artistic work of Szczecin's Nightingales and thus participates in all concert events and choir's tours. In December 2006 she conducted carol concerts in Germany and France, and, after her return to Poland, various concerts in January 2007: in the Pomeranian Dukes' Castle, in the Holy Family Church and at the University of Szczecin. In May 2007 Bożena Derwich was the conductor in the Jubilee Concert of the Charity Institution in Nantes - France. In June 2007 she prepared the Nightingales to the performance of The Passion According to Saint Luke by Krzysztof Penderecki. The chorus was performed on 20 June in Greifswald and on 23 June in St. Jacob's Cathedral in Szczecin. Thus, The Passion According to Saint Luke has been in Szczecin's Nightingales' repertoire since June 2007. Other choirs that participated in the concert were choirs from Poland, Germany and Norway. The conductor was Jochen Modess from Germany. In September 2007 Bożena Derwich prepared the Nightingales for the performance of Chichester Psalms by L. Bernstein. The concert took place in October 2007 in Pasewalk (Germany) and celebrated the anniversary of uniting the two German states. The conductor was Falk Schneppat from Germany. In December 2007 Bożena Derwich participated in a carol tour of European countries. The concerts were held in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Bratislava in Slovakia. Her musical interpretation of Polish carols evoked truly emotional reactions in Poles living in Luxembourg. In terms of musical education, Bożena Derwich teaches classes in voice emission to individuals and groups. She prepares the choir's repertoire for a`cappella concerts. Currently, she is preparing the choir to perform an oratorical composition of a modern Polish composer. Bożena Derwich teaches future conductors, giving them valuable advice drawn from her long experience in conducting a boy's choir. |