Arvo Pärt: Stabat Mater & Other Works Morphing Chamber Orchestra, Aleksandra Kurzak, Andreas Scholl, Roberto Alagna, Tomasz Wabnic

Morphing Chamber Orchestra
Opera stars Roberto Alagna, Aleksandra Kurzak and Andreas Scholl, American jazz icon Bobby McFerrin, composer Arvo Pärt, the Metropolitan Opera New York and label Sony Classical: they all chose to work with Morphing Chamber Orchestra. This cosmopolitan ensemble based in Vienna, Austria has established itself as a trusted chamber music partner of internationally recognized artists and institutions over the last decade.

Founded in 2006 by artistic director Tomasz Wabnicviolinist, violist, as well as arranger- Morphing Chamber Orchestra has stayed true to the philosophy of ensemble playing. Its players are young, diverse and award-winning artists from around the world, who all came to Vienna to perfect their musical skills. Their alert playing and outstanding qualities are paired with an acute sense of style which enables them to excel at a range of genres.

The pure sound of Viennese classical period is the musical foundation from which the MCO has branched out into Baroque period style, romantic opera, film music, pop and even world music, collaborating with award winning virtuoso Jospeh Tawadros. Current album releases include Mozart Concertante featuring Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak’s stratospheric voice in an unusual range of arias, as well as Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante performed by Tomasz Wabnic and Yuuki Wong- an example of the MCO style of soloist-led performing: Stabat Mater, which offers a range of renowned contemporary composers Arvo Pärt’s works with the mass at its core, and features Aleksandra Kurzak, tenor Roberto Alagna as wells as countertenor Andreas Scholl: and De Profundis, a spiritual journey through the works of Bach and Schönberg.

2020 saw MCO section leaders open a new chapter for the ensemble with two livestream performances through the New York Metropolitan Opera as a quintet. Vienna’s Morphing String Quintet accompanied opera stars Pretty Yende, Angel Blue, Matthew Polenzani, Javier Camarena, and Aleksandra Kurzak & Roberto Alagna in charming and rare locations around Europe. MET general manager Peter Gelb commended not only the quality of playing (“bravo”), but also the “excellent” orchestrations. Tomasz Wabnic arranged all arias for chamber music performances together with Lukas Medlam.

MCO complement this new presence in the online realm with numerous broadcasts from Morphing TV, a platform that allows viewers to watch pre-recorded concerts from glamorous locations in Vienna.

The MCO made its debut album with Sony in 2019: Desire featuring soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, received great critical acclaim and was awarded “best foreign album” by the Fryderyk awards in Poland in 2021.

Recent performance highlights include a star-studded tribute to Saint John Paul II at Krakow’s historical “Wawel” castle, where opera met pop music and folk songs; a concert at Les Invalides in Paris with Ophélie Gaillard broadcast by Radio Classique, and a recital at Teatro alla Scala di Milano.

Future plans include a return to Paris on December 9th 2021 for a Viennese Gala concert broadcast live from Les Invalides, a Korean opera tour in January 2022, a Vivaldi/Piazzolla program in Germany and Poland in March 2022 and further plans for Asia, Brazil and Scandinavia.

Morphing Chamber Orchestra owns exclusive rights to world premieres of compositions from the archives of the 700-year-old monastery of Jasna Gora, Poland. These archives contain over 3000 scores of 400 Polish and foreign composers including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Ditter von Dittersdorf and Joseph Haydn. MCO has made recordings for various television stations (PBS TV, ORF, TVP Kultura, TV Russia Kultura) and radio stations (OE1, Radio Classique France and Polish Radio 2) as well as several CD recordings for the French label Aparté, and the Austrian label Gramola.

Tomasz Wabnic
founded the Morphing Chamber Orchestra in 2006. As its artistic director, manager, and producer he brought the soloist ensemble to international attention with performances at the Teatro alla Scala and the Metropolitan Opera Live in Concert Series. Violist Tomasz Wabnic performs as soloist, generally leads the ensemble in performance or takes the role of principal violist. Tomasz Wabnic also creates unique orchestrations and arrangements for a wide range of music- his arrangements for the MET were received enthusiastically by Peter Gelb. He has recorded 16 CDs for several labels including Sony Classical International and Gramola and is currently an official Aparté artist.

In recent years, he forged professional relationships with leading musical personalities in diverse genres: amongst them are singer Bobby McFerrin, counter-tenor Andreas Scholl, soprano Angel Blue, oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros and composer Arvo Pärt. In 2020, Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak first chose Morphing Chamber Orchestra for her Sony album Desire, prompting the invitation by Wabnic for another collaboration: the album Mozart Concertante co-produced by Wabnic and Aparté’s Nicolas Bartholomée, which received rave reviews. A further recording featuring the renowned Polish opera singer together with Roberto Alagna and Andreas Scholl is due to be released this year Its focus is Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater, Tomasz Wabnic plays the solo part in Fratres and Spiegel im Spiegel and again co-produces with Nicolas Bartholomée.

Recent work as an arranger and orchestrator includes the reduction of opera scores for the Morphing Quintet in performances with MET opera stars for the 2020 online series Metropolitan Opera Live in Concert, as well as the MET Stars New Year’s Eve Gala with Blue, Pretty Yende, Javier Camarena and Matthew Polenzani, broadcast on Dec 31, 2021, on American TV network PBS. Further credits include work for Aparté, French label Little Tribeca, and renowned cellist Ophélie Gaillard.

As a violist and chamber musician, Tomasz Wabnic recently performed in the Golden Hall of the Wiener Musikverein, Teatro all Scala, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Moscow’s Philharmonic Hall, Teatro Amazonas in Brazil and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. He performs the viola solo of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante on his most recent album Mozart Concertante, his musical partner is violinist Yuuki Wong.

In 2013 Tomasz Wabnic founded the Huberman String Trio together with brothers Sándor and Ádám Jávorkai. The Trio presented its critically acclaimed recording of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations (arr. Dmitri Sitkovetsky) This year will see the release of an Aparté album honoring the 140th anniversary of Bronislaw Huberman.

Since 2012, Tomasz Wabnic leads a world-class Early Music ensemble dedicated to unearthing hidden treasures, particularly of the Polish Baroque era, the Capella Claromontana. Previously, Tomasz Wabnic founded and led the Capella Czestochoviensis (2006-2012). He produced 9 world-premiere recordings, including works by Amando Ivancic, Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Józef Daubeck and Filip Gotschalk, and discovered lost gems by W.A.Mozart and Joseph Haydn at the Częstochowa monastery of Mons Clara in Poland which were received with great acclaim internationally.

Born in Wrocław, Poland, into a family of musicians, Tomasz Wabnic began his studies at the conservatories, and universities of Bydgoszcz and Poznan in the violin class of Prof. Jadwiga Kaliszewska before continuing his training at Vienna's Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität (MUK) as a member of the viola class of Herwig Zelle. He received important impulses in the chamber music masterclass of the Altenberg Trio Wien. After graduating with honours, Tomasz Wabnic received several awards as a soloist and chamber musician. With his Fidelio Quartet, he was a finalist in the 2001 International Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne.

Tomasz Wabnic lives and works in Vienna, Austria. He leads the Morphing Music Institute and is the founder of the Lobkowicz Festival.

Booklet for Arvo Pärt: Stabat Mater & Other Works