Christmas Carol Mystery 2025
On Saturday, January 25, 2025 took place Christmas Carol Mystery of CHAPS – the largest Christmas carol concert in our region. As usually it gathered a large number of audience to fill the space in Szczecin Cathedral completely.
There were presented the most beautiful Polish carols arranged by prof. Marek Jasiński and accompanied by Szczecin instrumentalists. Singing parts interwoven by recitation sections helped the listeners to interpret the performed pieces even better.
In this year Christmas Carol Mystery performed the following artists:
- Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin (CHAPS),
- "Collegium Maiorum" Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin,
- Słowiki 60 Choir,
- Szczecin instrumentalists,
- Sandra Klara Januszewska – solo parts,
- Przemysław Walich – recitation.
Prof. Szymon Wyrzykowski watched over the whole concert as a conductor.
"The Dark Night " – Christmas music video of CHAPS
Christmas is often associated with commercial splendor and kitsch dominating in our everyday life. To reintroduce the deeper meaning of these outstanding moments the Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin together with a Szczecin jazz singer Jola Szczepaniak created an unusual and unconventional Christmas music video.
A composition "The Dark Night" by Szymon Wyrzykowski is a combination of a choir, an orchestra and a solo vocal. A deep, reflective lyrics has been written by Elżbieta Łazarewicz-Wyrzykowska, a poet and biblical scholar, who in her work emphasizes the spiritual message of Christmas: "The God seeks to live in us, common people, and through us wants to reveal to the world His kindness and love."
The conductor, Szymon Wyrzykowski, pointed out that in his work he wanted to combine the joy of Incarnation with transcendental questions, creating clear and moving music at the same time.
The video has been realized in the breathtaking Lentz Villa in Szczecin. Although the interiors emanate splendor, the authors employed minimalistic means of expression. The deliberate lack of typical Christmas symbols together with artistic performance give space for reflection on the essence of Christmas.
The performers in the project are: the Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, Jola Szczepaniak as the vocalist and Szymon Wyrzykowski as the conductor.
Royal Pictures was responsible for production: script and direction by Aurelia Kołodziej and photography and editing by Hubert Bartz.
The sound recordings have been completed in Polish Radio Szczecin by Jędrzej Gawroński and Wawrzyniec Szwaja, who also managed mixing and mastering.
The video has been recorded in the Lentz Villa and the sound in S1 Studio of Polish Radio Szczecin.
The project is a result of cooperation between WPUT, Polish Radio Szczecin, the Lentz Villa, Royal Pictures and the OPUS Foundation.
If "The Dark Night" makes you stop at least for a moment and think of the real meaning of Christmas, the artists’ goal should be achieved.
We kindly encourage everyone to listen to this remarkable work that leads us into the Christmas reverie in a completely different way than before.
Bob Chilcott in Szczecin
An absolutely unique, the only concert in Poland was performed on Sunday, December 8, in the Dominican Fathers church. Szczecin musicians performed Christmas Oratorio by a British composer and conductor Bob Chilcott, who also directed his work.
Bob Chilcott, recognized as one of the leading composers of choral music, conducted the concert sharing his experience of a tenor singer in a prestigious ensemble The King’s Singers. His compositions, distinguished by their melodiousness and diversity of style, combine sacred and secular components and are performed by the choirs in the whole world. Chilcott actively supports the development of choral music, inspiring singers as well as conductors.
Christmas Oratorio composition, written in 2019, presents the history of Christmas, combining pieces of the Gospel with XVI–XIX century poetry. Well-known British hymns appeared in new arrangements giving the audience a chance to join in the performance.
The main solo part, as an evangelist, sang an outstanding Szczecin tenor Krzysztof Machowski. The essential pieces (Magnificat and Nunc dimittis) were given to a mezzo-soprano and to a baritone, Sandra Klara Januszewska and Dariusz Sikorski respectively. Exceptional and distinguished the Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin with prof. Szymon Wyrzykowski as artistic director were the main performers of the composition.
The unusual instrumentation added to the composition a specific charm. The soloists and the choir were accompanied by a chamber brass ensemble together with a harp, kettledrums and organs. It resulted with the work sounding rich and original.
The concert was performer by:
- Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin,
- Advent Project Orchestra,
- Soloists:
- Sandra Klara Januszewska (mezzo-soprano),
- Dariusz Sikorski (baritone),
- Krzysztof Machowski (tenor, narrator).
The whole was directed by the composer Bob Chilcott.Prof. Szymon Wyrzykowski run the meeting introducing the concert’s theme and structure.
ANOTHER SUCCESS OF THE PROFESSOR SZYROCKI ACADEMIC CHOIR
The WPUT Department of Culture would like to inform that the Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, conducted by Szymon Wyrzykowski, was a great success at the festival in the Spanish town of Lloret de Mar. The Szczecin's choirs entered three categories and won the highest places in each of them, beating many leading Polish and European ensembles.
- Sacral music - 1st place
- Folk music - 2nd place
- Pop music - 1st place
September 2015
The first concert in the new Philharmonics building with participation of President Bronisław Komorowski
The WPUT Department of Culturhereby informs that, on 05.09.2014, the WPUT Professor Jan Szyrocki Academic Choir took part in the opening ceremony concert commemorating the commissioning of the new building of the Szczecin Philharmonics, during which it performed, among others, the work of Marek Jasiński entitled "In Principio". A television and photographic report from the concert is available below:
http://radioszczecin.pl/4,115603,bronislaw-komorowski-na-otwarciu-filharmonii-to- www.youtube.com/watch