A review by Marek Zebrowski Cellist Jan Kalinowski and pianist Marek Szlezer—also known as the Cracow Duo—are quite familiar to audiences in California after their numerous appearances at USC, the Holocaust Museum, and the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, among others. Their latest Los Angeles performance was on March 10 in Ramo Hall on the…Continue Reading Virtuosity and Passion
We regret to inform our readers that Ewa Podleś, the great Polish opera singer, passed away on January 19, 2024 at the age of 71. Possessing a beautiful and rare true contralto voice with a range of three-plus octaves, Ewa Podleś sang in the most prestigious houses around the world—Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin,…Continue Reading Obituary: Ewa Podleś, an Opera Legend
Poland’s Phonographic Academy [Akademia Fonograficzna] and the Association of Audio Video Producers [Związek Producentów Audio Video – ZPAV] have announced the recipients of the 2024 Golden Fryderyk Awards. This year, four artists have joined the exclusive group of musicians who received this prestigious lifetime achievement award. The official ceremony dedicated to jazz and popular music will take…Continue Reading Krzysztof Meyer Receives a 2024 Golden Fryderyk Award
The National Philharmonic in Warsaw has released a new album – Szymanowski Reimagined (FN 08/ACD 330), featuring outstanding violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł and the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Andrzej Boreyko. Transporting listeners on a fascinating journey through varied musical landscapes, the album contains some of the most interesting piano compositions by Karol Szymanowski,…Continue Reading New Szymanowski Album by Warsaw Philharmonic
The Phonographic Academy [Akademia Fonograficzna] and the Association of Audio Video Producers [Związek Producentów Audio Video – ZPAV] have opened up the first round of voting for the FRYDERKI 2024 Awards—Poland’s equivalent of the American Grammy Awards. Since 1995, the FRYDERKI Awards have been recognized by Polish musicians as the most prestigious awards in the…Continue Reading SMPK Members Nominated For FRYDERYKI 2024 Awards
This has been a very exciting half a year at the USC Polish Music Center, so exciting that we’ve barely had time to properly digitally welcome our newest staff member, Dr. Tomasz Fechner. Tomasz, or Tomek, has been a good friend of the PMC since 2015 when he was a classical guitar student at the…Continue Reading PMC Welcomes New Staff Member: Dr. Tomasz Fechner
On Wednesday March 22nd, mezzo-soprano Katarzyna Sadej will be at USC as a guest speaker in collaboration with USC Levan Institute for the Humanities’ “Sound In Sacred Spaces” series. As a speaker for this, Sadej will be presenting her Earth Singing Project, a project in which she records herself singing live in natural landscapes to…Continue Reading Earth Singing Project with Katarzyna Sadej
Recognized jazz musicians and all Polish participants of the 16th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań took part in this year’s jubilee edition of the Emanacje Music Festival. This year’s Wieniawski Cycle began on the 9th of July at 7:00 p.m. with a recital by Judyta Kluza-Sporniak (violin) and Grzegorz Skrobiński (piano). Additionally, Pianohooligan…Continue Reading 10th ‘Emanacje’ Festival: Wieniawski Cycle and Pianohooligan
This year the Polish Royal Opera hosted its 5th Festival featuring a plethora of Polish music from July 2nd to July 24th. The Festival included twelve performances and concerts. One of the festival’s biggest highlight events was the premiere of Zygmunt Krauze’s The Night of Ravens that took place on the first day of the…Continue Reading 5th Royal Opera Polish Music Festival & Krauze Premiere
The National Institute of Music and Dance (NIMiT) now has recordings available on major streaming platforms such as Spotify. As streaming has become an increasingly popular way to discover music and push artists’ work out to the public, there is no doubt that the presence of the NIMiT on these platforms will contribute to the…Continue Reading NIMiT on Streaming Platforms