The Warsaw’s Cultural Education Award is a competition for the best cultural education projects and programs, organized and funded by the City of Warsaw. This year, the first prize in the category “Other Wonderful Projects” was awarded to Professor Henryk Skarzyński for the musical “Interrupted Silence”. The Competition Gala, which has been moved online, took place on November 25, 2020 and was hosted by Agnieszka Szydłowska and Anna Michalak-Pawłowska, the Proxy of the President of the City of Warsaw for Cultural Education.

– Warsaw was the first city to create an urban cultural education program – said the President of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, addressing the Gala participants. – This is a unique initiative, because it was created by the whole community. From educational organizations and institutions to NGOs. For the last 10 years, we have been the only city to award the Warsaw’s Cultural Education Award. We reward the best teachers, animators and educators, appreciate their projects. Thanks to the proactive efforts of all those involved in cultural education in Warsaw, a huge change in the perception of its importance has taken place in our city – added President Trzaskowski.

“Interrupted Silence” is the first musical in the world with the participation of patients and hearing implant users. The stories, experiences and problems faced by real patients born deaf, with profound hearing loss, who lost their hearing later in life, and who had other hearing problems, were revealed to us by the creator and librettist, Professor Henryk Skarżyński – a world-renown otosurgeon, and a specialist in otorhinolaryngology, audiology, phoniatrics, and pediatric otolaryngology. The composer and arranger, Professor Krzesimir Dębski, composed the score and was the musical director of “Interrupted Silence”, while world-famous director Michał Znaniecki, associated with the Warsaw Chamber Opera, directed the musical. Luigi Scoglio was responsible for the set design. In the musical, the artists-patients under the care of Professor Henryk Skarżyński perform side by side with professional artists.

Professor Henryk Skarżyński presented the idea of the musical to the audience of the Gala and to the internet users: – “Interrupted Silence” shows that it is possible to achieve certain advances in science, medicine and offer someone a chance to return, to enter the world of sounds. It may involve the development of the patient’s life, education, and even his skills and artistic abilities.

The aim of the Warsaw’s Cultural Education Award is to promote the best cultural education projects carried out in Warsaw. 104 applications were submitted for this year’s 11^th edition of the Warsaw’s Cultural Education Award 2020. In the first stage, the Chapter of WPEK District Coordinators selected 62 projects. The organizers are very pleased with the growing popularity of the award, however, the most important are the effects of the distinguished projects, i.e. the fact that quality cultural education projects and programs are carried out in theaters, museums, community centers, libraries, schools, non-governmental organizations and other places.