This year's Golden Sceptre - an award bestowed annually by Bank Millennium and the Polish Culture Foundation to outstanding Polish culture artist - went to Maria Fołtyn. The Jury, lead by Beata Tyszkiewicz, awarded the prize to the Artist in recognition of her outstanding artistic accomplishments - vocal, directing, and mentorship, and for continuous promotion of Polish music in the World. The Golden Sceptre was founded in 1999 as an artistic award, to be presented by the Polish Culture Foundation and Bank Millennium to outstanding Polish culture artists. The award is bestowed for 'work of art, in the broadest meaning of the word, of an individual human being, a community, group, social organization, artistic institution, or a cultural or scientific movement. Since the beginning, Bank Millennium has been the patron of the Gold Sceptre award as well as the proud sponsor of associated artistic events. Over the years, the Golden Scepter has been awarded to the following persons: Jerzy Giedroyć, Wojciech Kilar, Stanisław Lem, Roman Polański, Ewa Podleś, Sławomir Mrożek, Janusz Gajos, and Tadeusz Różewicz. Every year, in line with the award regulations, the Winner appoints an outstanding young generation artist as the nominee for the so-called Little Scepter. This year's winner, Maria Fołtyn made her decision to offer this distinction to a talented tenor Rafał Bartmański. The Golden Sceptre prize-giving ceremony was held on September 26, 2007 at the National Theater - National Opera in Warsaw. The evening agenda was filled with a special staging of Śpiewnik domowy Pana Stanisława Moniuszki, arranged by Krzysztof Herdzin, with opera artists and pop music stars. Traditionally, the show is recorded by Telewizja Polska to be broadcast shortly on TVP2. The Bank's involvement in development and creation of the Golden Sceptre award is a natural consequence of the long years of its contribution in supporting high culture artistic initiatives, with the Golden Scepter itself being recognized as one of Poland's top honors in the area of culture and arts.