On 7 December 2012, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland passed a resolution to name 2013 the Year of Witold Lutosławski. The decision was justified as follows: “His works, present on the major concert stages of the world for more than sixty years, bring music to new dimensions of beauty and uncover previously unknown ways of understanding and experiencing the contemporary world. Connected with the great European tradition, from Beethoven and Chopin to Debussy and Bartók, he was a patriot in public life and a citizen of the world in his oeuvre”.
The celebrations will be organized by the Institute of Music and Dance. Bogdan Zdrojewski, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, announced a special programme, “Lutosławski 2013 – A Promise”, which has the purpose of preparing, for the entire year, as many artistic, academic, educational, documentary and popularizing activities as possible related to the figure and work of Witold Lutosławski in the context of 20th-century music, history and culture. Thanks to this programme, many artistic events will be held in Poland and across the world.
Information about the projects underway will regularly appear on the official website of the Year of Lutosławski celebrations, www.lutoslawski.culture.pl.
The inaugural concert of the Year will take place on 25 January 2013 at the Warsaw Philharmonic.
Source: www.beethoven.org.p