JURY 2025
Prof. of the University Dr. Benedykt Odya
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
Professor in the Department of Conducting of the Faculty of Music Education at Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz. In 1999 he graduated with honours from the Higher School of Pedagogy in Słupsk (now Pomeranian University) in the conducting class of Professor Sylwester Matczak, and a year later from the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań in the conducting class of Professor Antoni Grochowalski. In 2008, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Sylwester Matczak, he defended his doctoral thesis entitled Próba interpretacji sztuki wykonawczej polskich pieśni pasyjnych epoki średniowiecza i XVI w. Subsequently, in 2016, the K. Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of musical arts in the artistic discipline of conducting. He works on a permanent basis with the Pomeranian Philharmonic Orchestra in Bydgoszcz and Capella Bydgostiensis. His artistic work is mainly collaboration (since 2001) with the Academic Choir of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz. He conducts and prepares large oratorio and cantata works, as well as concerts of a cappella music and smaller vocal and instrumental forms. He is a participant and winner of many national and international music festivals and competitions (including Italy, Spain, Sweden, Malta, Slovakia, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Serbia). He has conducted music workshops in Slovakia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Czech Republic and India. The scope of his interests and artistic and scientific work particularly includes Christ Crucified, motifs of the Holy Cross and Golgotha in Polish music and Carol in Polish culture. For his artistic and scientific activities, he has been awarded the third degree medal Meritorious for Culture Gloria Artis (2021), the badge Meritorious for Polish Culture (2016) and the bronze (2009), silver (2019) and gold (2024) Cross of Merit. Vice-rector of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz for student affairs and quality of education from 2016 to 2024.
Conductor, choirmaster, pedagogue, graduate of the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk, majoring in choral conducting in the class of Prof. Zbigniew Bruna. She graduated from the Postgraduate Study of Choral Conducting and Voice Emission in Bydgoszcz. In 2019, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She honed her skills at courses and workshops under the guidance of distinguished pedagogues. She is the founder, conductor and artistic director of the “Camerata Musicale” mixed choir, which has been active since 2011 at the Kashubian Philharmonic in Wejherowo. Since 2015, he has led the children’s choir of Elementary School No. 9 in Wejherowo. With the ensembles she leads, she takes an active part in the cultural life of the town of Wejherowo, gives concerts in the country and abroad, and is successful in choir competitions and festivals, winning prestigious prizes and awards (several gold bands, three Grand Prix awards, special prizes for the interpretation of choral compositions and awards for the best conductor). She has twice been awarded the Prize of the Mayor of Wejherowo for her contribution to the promotion of culture in the city, as well as the Remus Prize, awarded by the Wejherowo Poviat Board for outstanding achievements in artistic creation and dissemination and protection of culture. As a specialist in vocal, choral and Kashubian music, she has been repeatedly invited to jury work work in music competitions, cooperate with other choirs and conduct vocal workshops – including the West Pomeranian Choral Workshop in Kolobrzeg, the International Choral Workshop in Calella (Spain). She conducted a series of lectures on voice emission with students of the Naval Academy in Gdynia. She cooperated with the listeners of the University of the Third Age from Wejherowo by conducting music classes. On her initiative, the first edition of the Inter-school Sea Song Contest in Wejherowo was held in 2022. She is also co-organizer of the Inter-school Patriotic Song Contest in Wejherowo. For several years she was associated with the Museum of Kashubian-Pomeranian Writing and Music in Wejherowo, where she ran the Music Department, organizing numerous cultural events and publishing works. She is the initiator and artistic director of the 50+ National Choral Festival, which has been organized since 2016 in Wejherowo. She currently works as a music teacher and choir conductor at Gen. Józef Wybicki Elementary School in Wejherowo.
Graduate of the Academy of Art in Szczecin in the instrumental department in the violin class and music education – conducting faculty.
For years, she has been extremely involved in the activity and development of her band Cherry Daiquiri, in which she is the vocalist and violinist, and with which she identifies herself, setting new aesthetics and style in popular music. Thanks to her charismatic personality and original image, which is also a reflection of her individual creative style, she and her band have been recognised by becoming Ambassadors of Szczecin. She represents the city at home and abroad giving concerts in the Czech Republic, Germany, France and England. Her achievements include numerous artistic activities, concerts, participation in festivals in increasingly interesting and avant-garde concert performances. In July 2017, she won the award for the best vocalist and instrumentalist at the Mira Kubasińska Festival in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, promoting the album ‘Phlebotomy Blues’. The album was patronised by the City of Szczecin and co-financed by Szczecin institutions and companies. She created and disseminated the idiom of the feature concert, one of the most spectacular scenes of which took place during the concert entitled ‘Where no strawberries grow, i.e. beyond good and evil’ in Trafostacja Sztuki. She was promoted on London alternative radio. Winner of the Winter Song Exchange in Opole, the ‘NGO Picnic’ and the Łęczyce Festival. Organisational director of the International Musical Struggles of Seniors and, from 2019, of the Szczecin International Passion Music Festival 2019, the West Pomeranian Choral Workshops in Kołobrzeg, coordinator of international Erasmus + projects.
Nina Salamon-Franczuk, graduated from the Feliks Nowowiejski Music School Complex in Szczecin in 2015 in the solo singing class of MA Iwona Górewicz. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz at the Department of Jazz, Conducting and Music Education in the class of Dr. Piotr Jańczak.
In 2021, she received her master’s degree in the conducting class of Professor Janusz Stanecki, PhD. In 2020-2022 she led the vocal ensemble ‘Wrzos’ at the Communal Cultural Centre in Sicienek. She cooperated with the Chamber Choir of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and the Chamber Choir of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin. She completed postgraduate studies in choirmaster at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She worked as an announcer for Music Auditions and Educational Projects at the Toruń Symphony Orchestra.