In the fall of 2003, a motion by the Society to make 2004 The Year of Lutosławski supported by over a dozen letters from representatives of artistic unions and prominent individuals in the world of culture, was filed in the chancellory of the Polish Sejm. On November 13, the request was considered by the Sejm Cultural Commission (Kazimierz Kord was the society’s spokesman), and in January 2004, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland passed the appropriate legislation. Thanks to the efforts of the Society’s board, the event was widely noted in the press and the media. The announcement of The Year of Lutosławski significantly facilitated the realization of the board’s plans, and animated the interest of many Polish cultural institutions, also in the provinces, in the Polish composer’s oeuvre and in him as a person.
The most important initiatives of the Witold Lutosławski Society have been the following:
- February 6, 2004: the embedding of a memorial plaque (designed by Society member Zbigniew Wilma) in the brickwork of Witold Lutosławski’s villa at Śmiała Street in Warsaw
- Participation in the Witold Lutosławski Forum 2004: March 12, an evening which took place at the National Philharmonic. In the first part of the event Julia Hartwig and Ryszard Kapuściński talked about the person of the society’s patron, while in the second part Ewa Podleś and Ewa Pobłocka performed his Five Songs.
- April 24, 2004: 2nd Performance Competition of Witold Lutosławski’s Compositions for the children and youth of Polish music schools: primary, post-primary, and those of the 1st and 2nd level.
- A competition of knowledge about Witold Lutosławski for the students of Polish primary, junior high, and high schools (not only music schools).
- International composition competition: Lutosławski Award 2004.
- November 29, 2004: International Meeting titled “Witold Lutosławski – A National Composer?”, held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
- February 11, 2005: special concert “Hommage a Lutosławski”, directed by Jerzy Semkow and presented at the Concert Hall of the National Philharmonic. The concert officially closed the celebrations of The Year of Lutosławski. Sinfonia Varsovia performed with the soloist Urszula Kryger. The program of the concert included works by Witold Lutosławski: Postlude no. 2, Five Songs, and Funeral Music in the first half of the evening, and Ludvig van Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony op. 55, no. 3, in the second half.