Cultural patronage

Santander Bank Polska’s original project addressed to the most talented young musicians to support their career development. Santander Orchestra is not only an orchestra, but above all an educational project combining music practice at the highest level with additional activities which are most often unaddressed in traditional education. Therefore, apart from classes with world-famous musicians, students and graduates of music schools participating in the project attended lectures on copyright law, finance management, body biomechanics, music psychology and image and career building.

For more information about the Santander Orchestra visit the web page https://www.santander.pl/ws-santanderorchestra/#/

Our bank became the title sponsor of one of the largest and most important jazz festivals in Poland and Europe, „Jazz on the Oder”. The invited artists included internationally acclaimed jazz musicians, such as Jazzmeia Horn, Keyon Harrold, Kandace Springs, Tia Fuller, Sławek Jaskułek with his project “Komeda Recomposed”, Kuba Więcek and Adam Bałdych.

The festival is an opportunity to promote young, debuting artists. Since the first edition, which took place in 1964, a competition for Jazz Persona of the Year for young musicians has been organized continuously until today. Over the decades, the competition has discovered such famous stars of the Polish jazz scene as Ewa Bem, Włodzimierz Nahorny, Krzysztof Urbański and Andrzej Zaucha. In 2019. the Grand Prix was won by Kuba Banaszek Quartet.

Young talented musicians from the Santander Orchestra conducted by Marcin Sompoliński also performed during the Festival. They played on one stage together with outstanding jazz musicians like Leszek Możdżer, an American saxophonist Tia Fuller, a Swedish double bass player Lars Danielsson, guitarist Wojtek „Monter” Orszewski and drummer Wojciech Buliński, who invited the audience to join them on a beautiful musical journey.

The festival was also accompanied by an open-air jazz zone with free entrance for all jazz fans, operating throughout the entire festival. It attracted in particular school and college students interested in an ambitious and original artistic offer.

Accompanying events also included meetings with artists e.g. with the legendary saxophonist Przemek Dyakowski and Tomasz Lech, a writer and Krzysztof Komeda’s foster son, as well as exhibitions of jazz posters and the first edition of the Marek Karewicz Photo Competition.

For years one of the most important areas of our sponsoring activities has been culture. We are particularly keen to get involved in projects that stay in the memory of the audience for a longer time thanks to the emotions they evoke. We are also fond of projects promoting Spanish culture. By participating in them, we emphasize the fact that for nine years we have been part of the global Santander Group which originated in Spain.

The Spanish Cinema Week is the only event in Poland dedicated exclusively to cinematography from the Iberian Peninsula and a unique opportunity to see films from this country that have won the hearts of Spanish viewers and critics. Santander Bank Polska was the patron of the festival in 2019.

The 19th edition of the event took place in selected cinemas in 10 cities of Poland: Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Białystok, Katowice, Łódź, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Poznań and Lublin. The programme included 16 films from 2018, among them, as many as twelve premiered in Polish cinemas. They were both the most famous new productions, as well as independent movies representing artistic cinema or titles awarded with Goya awards which are often referred to as the ‘Spanish Oscars’. In many cases it was the only opportunity to see them in Poland.

Among the biggest hits of the film event were: „The Realm” by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, „Champions” by Javier Fesser or „Wave of Crimes” one of the most popular Spanish productions directed by Gracia Querejeta.

During the performances, the musicians played part of the repertoire without a conductor, not seeing each other and relying solely on hearing. The aim of the event was to increase social sensitivity to the needs of people with visual impairments and to bring them closer to the way they experience the world. For the first time we decided to talk about the needs of people with disabilities through music, because it is the only field of art that can be fully enjoyed without involving the eyes.

The social partner of the event was the Executive Board of the Polish Association of the Blind. During the concerts, guests could make donations to the Polish Association of the Blind.

The organizer of the concerts was Santander Bank Polska in cooperation with POLFUND Fundusz Poręczeń Kredytowych S.A. and the Silesian Philharmonic, while the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Foundation of Santander Bank Polska was the patron of the event. For more information about the concerts and the commitments of the Foundation go to Santander Bank Polska Foundation.

Each of the „Reach out where sight does not reach” concerts began with a piece by the blind Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo, played by the orchestra in total darkness. During the concert one could also hear works by other outstanding artists who struggled with sight problems, e.g. Johann Sebastian Bach or Georg Friedrich Händel. Outstanding artists participating in the events included Waldemar Malicki, Carmen Giannattasio, Krzesimir Dębski, Anna Jurksztowicz, Ewa Uryga and the Vołosi ensemble. The orchestra was led by renowned conductors, i.e. Francesco Bottigliero, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk and Robert Kabara.

During the concerts, Santander Bank Polska volunteers took care of persons with disabilities, especially helping them to arrange transport and accompanying on the way to the concert venues.