Szczecin Philharmonic Big Band

Szczecin Philharmonic Big Band is an ensemble that combines the enjoyment of music with artistry, preparing special programmes and making use of the musicians’ unlimited performance and interpretative possibilities. Its concerts feature the most famous hits of popular music as well as some of the best-known melodies from the canon of world classics: standards by Gray, Ellington, Sandoval and Mancini, film music programmes, as well as festive programmes featuring songs by, among others, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. The ensemble also invites outstanding Szczecin vocalists to collaborate, including Jola Szczepaniak, Michał Grobelny and Sylwia Różycka.

The Big Band collaborates with Jakub Kraszewski, a pianist, conductor and composer. His arrangements give traditional pieces the lightness characteristic of performances by popular music orchestras.

The ensemble has also collaborated with such leading figures of Polish jazz as Maciej Sikała, Robert Majewski, Cezary Konrad and Paweł Tomaszewski. In 2021, the Big Band gave the premiere performance of Wojciech Kostrzewa’s Stream – Suite For Big Band and Electronics.

The ensemble was founded in autumn 2017 on the initiative of Igor Puszkar, a trombonist with the Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Its members include musicians from the orchestras of the Szczecin Philharmonic, Opera na Zamku and the Military Orchestra, as well as lecturers from the Academy of Art in Szczecin. The musicians perform a diverse and colourful repertoire – film music, jazz and swing – creating opportunities for making music together and inviting audiences to enjoy themselves.

In 2020, the Philharmonic released the Big Band’s first album, Szczecin Philharmonic Big Band Świątecznie.