Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon may not form the most obvious chamber ensemble, but as soon as they start playing, listeners are astonished. Since its inception, the Cracow Golden Quintet has won numerous accolades in Poland and abroad, performed at many international festivals, recorded music for DUX and Warner Classics, presented numerous world premieres of works from the 20th and 21st centuries... Now the esteemed Cracow Golden Quintet is celebrating 10 years on stage, starting its anniversary tour with a concert at the Kraków Philharmonic. Its first part will feature classics of Polish music: Quintet for wind instruments by Wojciech Kilar and Fantasia on the Themes of Folk Melodies by Witold Lutosławski, arranged by Paweł Riess. During the second part of the evening we will be joined by pianist Aleksander Dębicz, with whom the ensemble has been working since 2021. The Quintet was featured on Dębicz’s Sideways album, which gave us The Portals and an unusual arrangement of George Gershwin's Blue Rhapsody for wind quintet and piano. Both of these pieces will be performed on the Kraków Philharmonic stage, complemented by the premiere of the pianist's latest work – Golden Groove.

Wojciech Kilar Quintet for wind instruments
Witold Lutosławski / Paweł Riess Fantasia on the Themes of Folk Melodies for wind quintet 
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Aleksander Dębicz Golden Groove (premiere)
Aleksander Dębicz The Portals for wind quintet and piano 
George Gershwin The Blue Rhapsody (arranged for wind quintet and piano by A. Dębicz/R. Gutschy)

Aleksander Dębicz – piano

Cracow Golden Quintet:
Natalia Jarząbek – flute
Kamil Kuc – oboe
Tomasz Sowa – clarinet
Konrad Gołda – horn
Małgorzata Wygoda – bassoon

In the photo: Aleksander Dębicz & Cracow GOlden Quintet, photo by Anita Wąsik