Polish Music Center Newsletter Vol. 11, no. 9
News
USC Features Polish Cellist
Polish Cellist Reflects on Music Education in the US and Abroad
By Judy Hartwich, Senior Associate Director
Office of International Services
University of Southern California
This article was first featured in the OIS Newsletter, International Connections.
Marek Szpakiewicz, a USC international student from Lublin, Poland, has been praised by Yo-Yo Ma as an artist whose “energy, motivation, earnestness and generosity of spirit are evident throughout his work.” Marek has gained international acclaim as a soloist with orchestras in both Europe and the United States. He has contributed to film orchestration as a collaborator with Polish composer Jan A. P. Kaczmarek. Their most recent score, for the critically acclaimed Finding Neverland received the 77th Academy Award for Best Original Score in February, 2005.
Marek starting playing cello at age six upon his father’s encouragement. “My older brother had musical talent so my parents wanted to assure I had a good musical education as well. Our family did not have enough money to be able to afford a piano, and my father felt that he would be too tired at the end of the day to be able to put up with the sound of violin practice, so the cello was chosen as my instrument. In Poland, there are many specialized schools at the elementary level where music is the focus. I attended one of these schools and practicing 10 hours per week as a young child was part of my regular curriculum. In Poland and in Eastern Europe generally, listening to live music is much more available to the general public – it is a normal part of life. Music is also much more valued in the educational system than what it seems to be in the US.”
Marek first came to the US to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He came to USC for Advanced Studies in cello at the Thornton School of Music and is now completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of Eleonore Schoenfeld. Both Polish and American radio stations have broadcast his live performances and KUSC- Los Angeles dedicated a one hour special solely to his music.
“At USC I can learn totally new things. Musical composition techniques are going through a revolution due to technology and I would like to be at the forefront of this change. When I first started at USC some of the courses I wanted to take got cancelled because of underenrollment. These were courses in electronics and computer technology for composition, scoring, and musical notation. Most students are so focused on their instrument, when the new technology came out, they were slow to recognize its importance. Those courses are no longer underenrolled. I feel so fortunate because learning these new methods make me more versatile as a musician, a composer and an educator.”
“For me the knowledge I am able to gain through my studies is a privilege. There is something beyond the dollar. This seems to be the reverse for many American college students. They see the education they receive as a path to getting a good job to make money – and having money, not knowledge, seems to be what is valued. I think this again, goes back to the education system. It seems to encourage education as a means to an end – not as an end in itself. In the US, music is not as valued in either the elementary or high school levels as it is in other parts of the world. Most US schools have no music education whatsoever. If an American child is not exposed to music as he/she grows up – how can you expect him to be interested in going to hear a symphony orchestra as an adult? I think the US has the best system of higher education in the world, but it is confusing to me that this is so while the elementary and secondary levels seem to be inferior in many ways to those in other nations.”
I asked Marek what he thought of the idea of a program at USC to bring students from the surrounding area schools to hear live concerts at USC. “I think it would be great!” A small step towards mitigating the problems of lack education in music and the arts in our public schools? Maybe.
Marek’s recommendations for…
Cello Recordings
Bach – Suite for Cello Solo: Pablo Casals
Kodály – Sonata for Cello Solo: Janos Starker
Elgar – Cello Concerto: Jacqueline Du Pré
Dvorák – Cello Concerto: Yo-Yo Ma
Beethoven – Cello Sonata: Lynn Harrell
Rachmaninov – Cello Sonata: Mstislav Rostropovich
Chopin – Cello Sonata: Mischa Maisky
Marek’s recommendations for…
L.A. Concert Venues
Bovard Auditorium and Newman Hall, USC
Zipper Hall, Colburn School of Music
Walt Disney Hall: Los Angeles Philharmonic
Hollywood Bowl (summer)
Norton Simon Museum: Southwest Chamber Orchestra
Huntington Library (summer)
Redlands Bowl: Redlands Symphony Summer Festival
Bing Theater, LA County Museum of Art (for Sunday Live concerts)
September Polish Music Events At USC
Early Polish Music concert
As a part of the USC Music at Noon concert Series, the Polish Music Center presents a talented array of Thornton School of Music students performing little-known music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
United University Church sanctuary
USC University Park Campus
Hoover Ave. & Jefferson Blvd.
14 September 2005, Noon
Free
The Szymanowski Project: Songs of the Mad Muezzin
/ a theatrical multimedia fantasy /
The Polish Music Center is sponsoring a new project by USC Vocal Arts graduate student Timur Bekbosunov in which he explores the dangerous and esoteric world of mystical-erotic desire found in the songs and writings of Karol Szymanowski. See www.madmuezzinproject.org for more information on this interesting multimedia event.
Arnold Schoenberg Institute (ASI) auditorium
USC University Park Campus
Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Ave.
24 September 2005 at 7:00 pm
25 September 2005 at 3:00 pm
Admission is free, but due to limited seating, a reservation is required –
Call (213) 384-8291 or email your reservation request to: info@madmuezzinproject.org.
PMC In BBC Music Magazine
In the June issue of BBC Music Magazine, Jan Smaczny reviewed the new Dux recording of Paderewski’s Manru. Although he spoke very highly of the release in general, he had one complaint: the lack of a translated libretto in the liner notes. In order to enlighten its readers about an alternative source for this information, the magazine gives the web address of the PMC’s online Polish Music Journal, vol. 4 no. 2: www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/PMJ/issue/4.2.01/nossigmanru1.html.
Chopin Facsimile Edition
September 2005 will see the launch of the series of publications entitled Works by Chopin. Facsimile Edition. This is an international academic publishing project realized over several years, the aim of which is to publish all the available manuscripts of works by Fryderyk Chopin in facsimile form, with commentaries by Chopin scholars. “Facsimile Edition of works by Chopin” is a project of The Fryderyk Chopin Institute and The Publishing House of the Pelplin Diocese “Bernardinum”. The project is the first of its kind on such a grand scale anywhere in the world. Participating in the venture are representatives from six countries: Poland, France, the UK, Switzerland, Germany and the USA. The project’s partners are libraries where Chopin manuscripts are held, universities, music publishers and Chopin societies.
This special edition is the first complete set of Chopin’s music manuscripts and the most outstanding graphic reproduction of the original texts hitherto produced. The aims of this edition are to preserve and disseminate the Fryderyk Chopin legacy in Poland and across the world by reproducing and safeguarding the contents of his manuscripts, to make the original Chopin texts accessible for research purposes, to enable performance practice to approach as near as possible the composer’s intentions, and to verify knowledge regarding sources and disseminate this knowledge via the source commentaries. It will be a six-language source of the most up-to-date knowledge relating to the manuscripts and their history, available in both an exclusive limited edition collectors series, bound in leather with gold fittings, and an economical academic series with a plain exterior.
The first three volumes in the series comprise the following works: Concerto in F minor, Op. 21, semi-autograph (172 pages), National Library, Warsaw; Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, Stichvorlage (29 pages), National Library, Warsaw; and Mazurka in A flat major, Op. 7 No. 4, autograph (1 page), Warsaw Music Society. The complete edition will provide unprecedented access to faithful copies of all the originals of Chopin’s music manuscripts scattered around the world, furnished with an up-to-date scholarly commentary in six languages: Polish, English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese.
To obtain further information and to order the first volumes in the series, please contact the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, www.nifc.pl or nifc@nifc.pl
Music & Physics, In Concert
A concert celebrating the 38th Polish Physicist Convention as part of international year of physics will be held on September 12, 2005 at 7:00 pm at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. The program consists of two compositions by Wojciech Kilar: Piano Concerto and a premiere of Sinfonia de motu [Symphony of Movement] for soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra. The works will be performed by: Iwona Hossa – soprano, Jarosław Bręk – baritone, Waldemar Malicki – piano and the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Antoni Wit.
Wojciech Kilar wrote Sinfonia de motu as a commission from Polish physicists, to celebrate the International Year of Physics. In the letter to the organizers of the convention, Kilar wrote that he treats the symphony as a sort of a gift and homage to Polish physics and physicists as well as physics in general. The symphony took a little over a year to write. Its title is based on a physics term, but also a philosophical one: movement. Conversations with physicists were the inspiration to write the piece. They pointed out many similarities between terms in music and physics. For example C is the speed of light, G is a constant of the gravity. The lyrics are based on Dante’s Inferno.
Michał Lorenc Ballet Music
On September 10, the State Baltic Opera in Gdańsk will open the 2005/2006 artistic season with a ballet set to the music of Polish film composer Michał Lorenc entitled …from heaven. The choreography is by Izadora Weiss and set design by Ewa Kochańska. It is a poetic story of love that has to face intolerance, stereotypes and social constraints. The two act ballet by the young choreographer shows how the experiences gathered during childhood mold our personality and how observation of things low and dirty does not sentence us to mud and misery. On the contrary it releases us from the need to reach the ideal and to elevate ourselves and reality. Utopia? Not necessarily. Simply an artistic reaction to evil, a juxtaposition with beauty of movement, sophisticated plastic images created by Ewa Kochańska. The ballet carries a lot of positive energy and at the same time opposes the mechanical choices, plain reality and evil. Lorenc’s film credits include: Psy, Przedwiośnie, Bandyta, Glina and many others.
“New York In Memoriam” Concert
On September 11, 2005 at 7:00 pm, the Polish Baltic Philharmonic will perform a concert in St. John’s Church in Gdańsk, dedicated to the victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. The orchestra will be performing Kilar’s September Symphony under the direction of Michał Nestorowicz.
Since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, all around the world people commemorate the innocent victims of the event on September 11th. Last year the Baltic Philharmonic performed Zbigniew Preisner’s score to the Dekalog [Ten Commandments] and this year they will perform music by one of the most popular Polish composers, Wojciech Kilar.
Kilar has been writing film and concert music for over 50 years now, with great national and international successes. He has written music for over 130 movies. Two years after 9/11, Kilar composed the four-movement September Symphony. In it you are able to hear quotes from “America the Beautiful” and gospel music. The idea of the work came to the composer during the performance of his Missa Pro Pace performed in the first anniversary of the attack by the National Philharmonic. In an interview, Kilar pointed out that this symphony is meant to honor the victims of the 9/11 and at the same time expressed a strong disapproval for the lack of the respect for human lives.
Festivals
Wratislavia Cantans
9-18 September 2005
From the very beginning in 1966, the “Wratislavia Cantans” International Festival has been a festival without borders, presenting the cultures of many nations through the best artistic performances. This year will be no exception. During the 12 days of the festival, the organizers have over 50 concerts planned, taking place not only in Wrocław but also in other cities of lower Śląsk [Silesia]. Next to contemporary compositions one will hear early, baroque, classical and romantic works that will span from large vocal instrumental works to concertos, symphonies songs and dances. The broad repertoire formula of Wratislavia Cantans encompasses not only music but also art exhibitions of all epochs and cultures.
Since 1978, Wratislavia Cantans has the only Polish member of the prestigious European Festival Association (EFA) in Geneva and since 1997 Lidia Geringer d’Oedenberg, General Director of Wratislavia Cantans, has been the only Polish representative on the association board and an active member of EFA Marketing Commission. This honorable privilege opens new paths of progress for the festival, creating tremendous opportunities for co-operation with the greatest and most important festivals in Europe. In 1998 Wratislavia Cantans joined the International Society for Performing Arts Foundation in New York (ISPA), in 1999 it was one of co-founders of Reseau Europeen pour la Music Ancienne (REMA) in Paris. All these actions help to develop mutual co-operation and cultural exchange, which also became an excellent opportunity to promote Polish culture.
Every year, the festival invites over 2,000 performers and attracts about 25,000 listeners from Poland and abroad. The high point of this 40th edition of the festival will be the premiere of the new movement of the Polish Requiem by Krzysztof Penderecki, dedicated to Pope John Paul II. It will be performed on September 17, 2005 in St. Mary Magdalene cathedral in Wrocław.
For more information and a detailed program of the festival go to: www.wratislavia.art.pl.
Warsaw Autumn
16-24 September 2005
This year’s 48th International Festival of the Contemporary Music “Warsaw Autumn” [Warszawska Jesień] wll consist of 20 concerts, accompanying events, meetings with composers and invited guests, workshops and masterclasses. In accordance to tradition, this year’s edition will open with a concert of the National Philharmonic, who will play music by Toru Takemitsu and Quigang Chen. This concert will serve as a lead-in to this year’s theme — presentation of the music of Asia, especially China, Japan and Korea. During the remaining concert events, pieces by Toshio Hosokawa, Unsuk Chin, Younghi Paan-Pagh, Isang Yun, Misato Mochizuka, Xiao Song, Xu Yi will be featured. Also there will be a concert of Mayumi Miyata performing on shô and gagaku ensemble Sojo no Choshi.
The guests of the festival will be Klaus Huber, Georg Friedrich Haas, John Tavener and Heiner Goebbels. The audience will have a chance to meet these artists during the sessions organized by the Austrian Culture Forum and Warsaw Music Conservatory. An important event during the festival will be a double performance of the opera Landschaft mit entfernten Verwandtenby Goebbels. Taverner will perform the piece Fall und Resurection that, along with a harp concerto by Hosokawa, will be a part of the final concert. Music from Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia will also be performed during the festival. The 80th birthday of Pierre Boulez will be celebrated with a special stage performance of Répons and orchestral interpretation of Notations. World premieres are a tradition at Warsaw Autumn and this year there will be twelve of them. Among them are works by Krzysztof Knittel, Jarosław Kapuścinski, Marcin Bortnowski and Dobromiła Jaskot.
For more information and a detailed program of the festival go to: www.warszawska-jesien.art.pl/05/index.html.
Bydgoszcz Music Festival
11 September – 1 October 2005
For over 40 years, the Pomeranian Philharmonic has been organizing music festivals. Thanks to these events, the citizens of Bydgoszcz have had the chance to experience many interesting artistic performances. The opening concert of his year’s edition will showcase the soloists of the Marinski Theater from St. Petersburg, Pomeranian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Opera Nova Choir, conducted by Tadeusz Wojciechowski. Program: Dvorak’s Requiem.
Other festival events include a concert of the Rustavi Choir from Tbilisi, a concert commemorating the 220th birth anniversary of Karol Kurpiński and also a “Concert of the Masters” with the Pomeranian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Wojciech Michniewski cond., and soloists: Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, violin; Tomasz Strahl, cello and Krzysztof Jabłoński, piano. During the festival there will also be a concert of Handel’s Messiah, performed by Capella Bydgostiensis (the chamber ensemble of the Pomeranian Philharmonic); PS Chamber Choir from Berlin, directed by Peter Schwartz; and a concert of “Pearls of the Baroque,” consisting of works by Vivaldi, Bach and Handel performed by Capella Bydgostiensis under Paul Esswood. There will also be a concert for lovers of contemporary music, including pieces by contemporary Polish composers Aleksander Gabryś, Adam Kaczyński and Krzysztof Knittel. The final concert will be performed on October 1, an international day of music. During the concert, Krzysztof Penderecki will lead the Sinfonia Varsovia in Penderecki’s Concerto grosso and Jean Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony. The concerto soloists will be Andrzej Bauer, Rafał Kwiatkowski and Bartosz Koziak on cellos.
For the detailed program of the festival in Polish, go to: www. polmic.pl
Klangspuren Schwaz
9 – 25 September 2005
This festival of new music takes place in the Tyrol city of Schwaz in Austria. Concerning instrumentation, the Klangspuren will focus on guitar and voice this year. Country focus is set on the new EU countries of Poland and Latvia: here the Klangspuren investigates the uniqueness of Polish and Latvian New Music and the question of whether it still exists in our age of globalization.
Over many years the Warsaw-based festival “Warsaw Autumn” was the most important festival in the former Eastern block. There, one could hear what was elsewhere dismissed as bourgeois formalism. Polish composers such as Lutosławski, Penderecki, Serocki or Baird had managed to gain freedom that would never be granted in other Eastern countries. And so, the composer and director of the “Warsaw Autumn” Tadeusz Wielecki is guest at this year’s Klangspuren, alongside a premiere by the Tiroler Symphonieorchester orchestra Innsbruck under Olari Elts and a talk with the Polish composer Joanna Woźny and the music journalist Reinhard Schulz. Other highlights include premieres of works by Joanna Woźny, Ewa Trębacz, Cezary Duchnowski and Michał Talma-Sutt, all composers of the younger Polish generation. In addition to very new works, the audience will also hear music of Witold Lutosławski’s. Also, Andrzej Bauer, an important cellist and Andrzej Stasiuk, a sought-after writer, are guests of the festival.
More info and detailed program of the festival is available at: www.klangspuren.at.
Festival Sacrum – Profanum
19-25 September 2005
The third edition of this festival, organized by Kraków’s Festival Bureau in cooperation with the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic, will take place in Kraków. The idea of the festival is to present, during monographic concerts, the creative output of the greatest composers performed by master artists. This year is dedicated to 20th century Russian music. The program consists of works by Stravinsky, Schnittke, Shostakovich and Prokofiev. Among the works that will be heard are the complete cello and cello/piano pieces of Schnittke, the complete piano trios and cello concertos by Shostakovich, as well as the “Romeo and Juliet project”, based on the ballet music by Prokofiev.
Among the performers is Ilyi Gringolts, Deutsche Grammophon recording violinist, who will be performing Stravinsky’s rarely heard Violin Concerto in D Major. For the first time in Poland, cellist Matthew Barley will be heard playing Schnittke’s cello works with pianist Stephen de Pledge. Another artist who will be performing during the festival is Pieter Wispelwey, performing Shostakovich’s two cello concertos with Sinfonietta Cracovia and Trio Wanderer. On the conductor’s podium we will see great Polish conductors: Grzegorz Nowak, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Tadeusz Wojciechowski.
During the final concerts performed in one of the production halls of the Mittal Steel Poland the audience will experience a show prepared by Maciej Sobociński. The “Romeo and Julietproject” uses Prokofiev’s three original ballet suites and musical spaces co-created by an extended percussion group (with DJ’s) put together specially for this event by Jan Pilch. The project also involves the Szymanowski Philharmonic and a group of dancers. The “Romeo and Juliet project” juxtaposes sacrum and profanum in both the decoration and the actual story of the Romeo and Juliet.
For a detailed program of the festival go to: http://www.krakow-info.com/4sacrum.htm.
Chopin Around The World
Chopin And His Europe
2-10 September 2005
“Chopin and His Europe” is the title of a new fall festival in Warsaw. The main thrust of the event is to present Chopin’s compositions in the wider context of 19th century European music, and to reconstruct its historical sound as it was heard by music lovers in the 19th century. The creators are planning annual editions of the event, with performances of Chopin’s music as well as works that were an inspiration for Chopin and works that were inspired by Chopin. With this format, the presentation of a broad spectrum of music, ranging from romantic to contemporary creations, will be possible. Eventually the festival will also include other art forms such as literature and theater and is intended to be a festival which highlights outstanding national and international artists.
This year, the Festival focuses on the works of Chopin and Beethoven. Concerts featuring the Orchestra of the 18th century, conducted by Frans Bruggen, will give music lovers an opportunity to hear all of Beethoven’s symphonies and Chopin’s works performed on authentic period instruments. The Festival features eminent pianists, including Nikolai Lugansky, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Nelson Goerner, Dang Thai Son, Fou Ts’ong and Janusz Olejniczak. All concerts take place at the hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic.
“Chopin and His Europe” is organized by the National Frederic Chopin Institute with help from the Warsaw National Philharmonic, Promotion Bureau of the City of Warsaw, Channel 2 of the Polish National Radio and Warsaw Destination Alliance organization. The festival is part of the government program “Frederic Chopin’s Heritage 2010” and will be a continuing event in the calendar of international events organized in Poland’s capital.
For concert times and venues, visit: www.filharmonia.pl or www.infochopin.pl.
“Chopin in the Colors of Autumn”
15 – 18 September 2005
For the last 24 years, the Chopin Festivals in Antonin have been held annually in the third week of September. The Festival commemorates the two visits Chopin paid to the Antonin Palace in the years of 1827 and 1829. For this year’s festival, there are six concerts planned. In addition to piano recitals, organizers invite audiences to attend chamber, vocal, orchestral concerts and also a special night concert.
For a festival program go to: www. polmic.pl (in Polish) or www.infochopin.pl (Pol./Eng.).
Chopiniana Festival 2005
23 August – 27 September 2005
At the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, Argentinians are celebrating the legacy of Chopin. The Fundacion Chopiniana has invited an impressive list of performers for the festival. Events include: Leonid Kuźmin Recital, Beata Bilińska and Patrycja Piekutowska in Concert, Martha Noguera Recital, Ewa Pobłocka Recital, and Gergely Bogányi Recital.
For concert times and venues, visit: www.infochopin.pl.
Days Of Music And Folklore
1-4 September 2005
At this year’s 4th International Days of Music and Folklore, folk and orchestral ensembles from around Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia will be performing in the competition and festival. The ensembles will be performing in and around Leszno. On the last day there will be a parade ending at the Town Square of Leszno with a final concert and awards ceremony.
More info is available in Polish at: www.pzchio.pl.
Festival Of Polish Piano Art
10 – 16 September 2005
During the opening concert of this festival in Słupsk, Marek Drewnowski with State Chamber Orchestra under Bohdan Jarmołowicz will perform Great E flat Major Polonaise by F. Chopin and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto in C Minor. The remaining festival concerts will include violin pieces of Penderecki performed by Patrycja Piekutowska and Beata Bilińska, compositions of Tchaikovsky and the final concert of Górecki’s Piano Concerto Op. 40 performed by Anna Górecka.
For the detailed program of the festival in Polish, go to: www. polmic.pl
Discography
Anderszewski Gets Rave Reviews
Piotr Anderszewski’s new recording of works by Szymanowski has taken the music community by storm. The September 2005 issue of Gramophonemagazine includes both an impressive review of the disc and an interview with the pianist, and the August 2005 edition of BBC Music Magazinereviews the recording as its Insturmental Choice of the month.
The recording is comprised of three of Szymanowski’s more rare pieces for solo piano: Piano Sonata No. 3, Masques, and Métopes. Inspiration for these works was drawn from Greek mythology and his experiences while traveling in Africa and the Mediterranean. They were written during the middle part of Szymanowski’s career at a time when his style was becoming more impressionistic and exotic. In choosing these less known and less readily accessible works, Anderszewski, like Szymanowski, makes a break with his traditional grounding in the Polish classics of Chopin and plunges into exciting pieces that “go to the roots of [European] civilization.” Anderszewski explodes with enthusiasm over this music: “No music is more passionate, more erotic and at the same time shows such an incredible mastery of form.” (Interview with Nick Shave, Gramophone p. 12)
Gramophone reviewer Bryce Morrison shows no less enthusiasm over Anderszewski’s performance of the pieces: “Such music calls for a pianist of unlimited superfine virtuosity and a complete temperamental affinity for such exoticism, and in Anderszewski it has surely found its ideal champion.” (Gramophone, p. 59). Erik Levi of BBC Music Magazine says that, “Anderszewski enthralls the listener by the sheer beauty of the sounds that conjures up from the piano.” (BBC Music Magazine p. 21) With such praise from the critics, it will not be long before Anderszewski’s recording becomes a staple in the CD collection of all piano aficionados and Szymanowski’s piano compositions take their rightful place alongside all of the other great works of this composer.
This recording is available at www.amazon.com.
Awards
International Organ Competition
The five person jury, led by American Dr. Colin Andrews, announced the winners of the 3rd International Organ Competition in Poznań. First prize was given to Rostisław Wygranienko from Ukraine, second to Krzysztof Karcz from Poland and third to Paweł Wróbel, also Polish.
Polish Film In Spain
The first Polish film in 13 years, Piotr Trzaskalski’s new work Mistrz has qualified for the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain. This year’s edition of the prestigious movie event will last from Sept. 15-24.
Internet News
Poland-Lithuania Tours
www.poland-lithuania-tours.com
tours@poland-lithuania-tours.com
This company provides private luxury tours across Poland and Lithuania with your own driver/guide. Music tours and other special interest tours are a specialty.
Jazz Online
JazzSociety.com and Jazz World Database are an online jazz resource providing timely, interesting information to the jazz professionals and jazz audience of the world. The site and database cover the all aspects of the jazz industry and have recently been given an updated look. The Jazz World Society was founded January 17, 1983 in New York City, USA by Jan Byrczek and is incorporated in Delaware. The society is the outgrowth of the International Jazz Federation, co-founded by Jan Byrczek in Europe in May 1969.
Calendar of Events
SEPT 2: Lutosławski – Concerto for Orchestra. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons conductor. BBC Proms. Royal Albert Hall, London, U.K.7:30 pm. http://www.bbc.co.uk/print/proms/whatson/0209.shtml
SEPT 3: First concert of the Polish Baroque Orchestra, a new orchestra created by a conductor Kzysztof Czerwiński and violinist Radosław Kamieniarz. Program: Concerto for Orchestra and Organ (Handel), 3rd Orchestral Suite (Bach), selected works for solo organ. Andrew the Apostole Church, Komorniki, Poland, 7:00 pm. Admission is free.
SEPT 11: Polish Baltic Philharmonic will perform Wojciech Kilar’s September Symphony. St. John’s Church, Gdańsk, Poland. 7:00 pm.
SEPT 12: A program of Wojciech Kilar’s Piano Concerto and Sinfonia de motu [Symphony of Movement] (premiere). In honor of the 38th Polish Physicist Convention and the International Year of Physics. National Philharmonic, Warsaw, Poland. 7:00 pm. www.filharmonia.pl
SEPT 12: Luncheon and speech with His Excellency Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of the Republic of Poland. Los Angeles World Affaires Council, The Beverly Hills Hotel, (9641 Sunset Boulevard), Los Angeles, CA. Noon. All tickets must be paid for in advance. For Reservations Tel: (213) 628-2333
SEPT 14: The Polish Music Center presents Early Polish Music at the Music @ Noon concert series. United University Church, USC, Los Angeles, CA. 12:10 pm. Free admission. Contact us at (213) 821-1356 or polmusic@usc.edu for more information.
SEPT 24: USC tenor Timur Bekbosunov explores the dangerous and esoteric world of mystical-erotic desire found in the songs and writings of Karol Szymanowski. Arnold Schoenberg Auditorium, USC, Los Angeles, CA. 7:00 pm. Free admission but see website for reservations. www.madmuezzinproject.org
SEPT 25: USC tenor Timur Bekbosunov explores the dangerous and esoteric world of mystical-erotic desire found in the songs and writings of Karol Szymanowski. Arnold Schoenberg Auditorium, USC, Los Angeles, CA. 3:00 pm. Free admission but see website for reservations. www.madmuezzinproject.org
SEPT 27: Karol Szymanowski’s Mythsfor violin and piano, op. 30. Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Berlin, Germany. 11:00 a.m. www.konzerthaus.de.
SEPT 27: A concert presented by Marcin Głuch: pianist, conductor, composer and cultural anthropologist. Program: G. Bacewicz—Sonatina, Melodia, Oberek; K. Przybylski—Temat z Wariacjami; E. Pałłasz—Bajki Kaszubskie; A. Hundziak—Etiudy; S. Kisielewski—3 Sceny burzliwe; J. Olkuśnik—3 Impresje; and R. Maciejewski—Krzesany. Polish Institute(Villagatan 2), Stockholm, Sweden. 7:00 p.m.
Polish Music South Of The Equator
PMC Abroad
Polish music was enthusiastically received by the Brazilian public who recently attended a series of concerts in Rio de Janeiro featuring Polish repertoire and performers. Pianist and PMC Director Marek Żebrowski and the Armstrong String Quartet of the USC Thornton School of Music gave two performances of Juliusz Zarębski’s Piano Quintet. This passionate and lyrical work was heard first on Tuesday, August 9th at the concert hall of IBAM (Instituto Brasileiro de Administração Municipal) and again on Friday, August 12th at the Centro Cultural da Justiça Federal. Located in an architectural landmark right in the heart of Rio, Centro Cultural presents concerts in the ornate and beautifully renovated hall that is resplendent with frescoes, gilded wall moldings and Art Deco stained glass widows. Such an elegant venue was a particularly fitting backdrop for the Zarębski’s last and most magnificent opus, completed shortly before his untimely death in 1885. The August 12th performance was taped for Televisão Educativa, the main Public Television broadcaster in Brazil. In addition to the Zarębski, both concerts also featured Mr. Żebrowski’s arrangement for the piano quintet of three movements from the Dolly Suite, originally a composition for piano four-hands.
On Thursday, August 11th, Marek Żebrowski was joined by a distinguished Polish virtuoso violinist, Jerzy Milewski, who has lived in Brazil for over three decades. The performance was held in the Golden Hall of the University of Rio de Janeiro and featured a selection of violin and piano compositions by Henryk Wieniawski. Ricardo Bru, a native of Argentina and currently the principal cellist of the Vienna Volksoper then joined Mr. Żebrowski in a performance of Chopin’s Polonaise Brillante for Cello and Piano. For the grand finale, Jerzy Milewski, Ricardo Bru and Marek Żebrowski joined forces in a spirited performance of Chopin’s rarely heard Piano Trio in G minor. This particular concert was accompanied by an exhibit on Poland, its culture and geography at the Rio University. The overflow crowd included a substantial number of Polish-Brazilians.
All concerts were held under the auspices of the XI Rio International Cello Encounter Festival, which featured over 60 performances all over Rio de Janeiro between August 6th and 21st 2005. Prestigious artists from across the globe, including cellists Steven Isserlis, Anatoli Kratsev, David Chew, and Armen Ksajikian, pianists Aleida Schweitzer, Elizabeth Mucha, Gerald Robbins, violinists Peter Marsh, David Johnson, among many others took part in this exceptional feast of music-making.
For more information on the XI Rio International Cello Encounter, please visit: www.riocello.com.
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Polish Music With A Brazilian Twist
Since his emigration to Brazil in the early 1970s, Jerzy Milewski has given numerous solo concerts throughout the world, also performing in duo recitals with his wife, Aleida, a pianist. The two met studying classical music in Poland. An intuitive and spontaneous musician, Milewski is also fascinated with Brazilian popular music, and has recorded several jazz and fusion CDs.
Recently Jerzy Milewski donated several of his recordings to the Polish Music Center. The Nostalgic Evenings CD features the Milewski Duo in the Baroque-era repertoire of Couperin, Handel, Corelli and LeClair. Djavan…sem palavras and Vibraço CDs are Milewski’s heartfelt homage to Brazilian popular music. Milewski’s wife, pianist Aleida Schweitzer is the featured soloist on a CD with J.S. Bach’s keyboard concerti, where she is accompanied by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra led by Agnieszka Duczmal.
For more information on Jerzy Milewski please go to: www.jerzymilewski.com.
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Anniversaries
Born This Month
- 1 September 1900 – Kazimierz WILKOMIRSKI, cellist, conductor, teacher (died in 1990)
- 5 September 1924 – Krystyna MOSZUMAŃSKA-NAZAR, composer
- 5 September 1938 – Piotr LACHERT, pianist, composer, pedagogue
- 6 September 1916 – Tadeusz DOBRZANSKI, composer and conductor
- 7 September 1943 – Elżbieta STEFAŃSKA, harpsichordist
- 9 September 1921 – Andrzej DOBROWOLSKI, composer (died in 1989)
- 9 September 1923 – Andrzej BACHLEDA, tenor
- 13 September 1896 – Tadeusz SZELIGOWSKI (died 10 January 1963), composer
- 14 September 1937 – Jan ASTRIAB, composer
- 14 September 1914 – Michal SPISAK, composer (died 29 January 1965, Paris)
- 16 September 1895 – Karol RATHAUS, composer, pianist (died 21 November 1954, New York)
- 16 September 1891 – Czesław MAREK, composer, pianist
- 18 September 1919 – Edward BURY, composer and theory teacher
- 18 September 1928 – Adam WALACINSKI, composer and music critic
- 18 September 1883 – Ludomir RÓŻYCKI (died 1 January 1953), composer
- 19 September 1938 – Zygmunt KRAUZE, composer and pianist
- 22 September 1940 – Edward BOGUSLAWSKI, composer
- 23 September 1912 – Irena PFEIFFER, composer, conductor.
- 24 September 1914 – Andrzej PANUFNIK (died 27 October 1991)
- 30 September 1942 – Andrzej DUTKIEWICZ, pianist and composer
- 30 September 1947 – Jan OLESZKOWICZ, composer
Died This Month
- 13 September 1977 – Leopold STOKOWSKI (born 18 April 1882), conductor and composer
- 15 September 1895 – Jan KLECZYNSKI (b. 8 June 1857), pianist and music critic
- 15 September 1944 – Bronislaw WOLFSTAHL, composer, pianist, conductor (b. 22 July 1883)
- 18 September 1857 – Karol KURPINSKI (b. 6 March 1785), composer and conductor
- 26 September 1944 – Seweryn BARBAG (b. 4 September 1891), musicologist.
- 29 September 1954 – Alfred GRADSTEIN (born 30 October 1904), composer, and social activist
- 27 September 1943 – Wacław GIEBUROWSKI (born 6 February 1878), priest, choral conductor and musicologist
- 28 September 1939 – Halina SZMOLC-FITELBERG (born 25 December 1892), dancer (Diaghilev ensemble, Grand Theatre)
- 28 September 1956 – Walerian BIERDAJEW, conductor and teacher (b. 7 March 1885)
- 29 September 1861 – Tekla BADARZEWSKA-BARANOWSKA (b. 1834), composer of “The Maiden’s Prayer”
Obituaries
Alojzy Thomys
Alojzy Thomys, a saxophonist, teacher and composer died in Dortmund on 5 August 2005. He was born in Tarnowskie Góry on 8 September 1929. He was a member of the legendary ensemble “Melomani” [Music Lovers] and a soloist with the Polish Radio Orchestra in Cracow. As a teacher at the Cracow Fryderyk Chopin Music Lyceum he formed the first jazz class. His pupils included Zbigniew Seifert, Jan Jarczyk and Janusz Stefański. He was a tutor of ensembles formed at the Jazz Club of Nowa Huta (Cracow district) in 1962-64. As a composer he is known, above all, as the author of Ten Miniatures in Various Styles, published by PWM Edition in Warsaw.
Stefania Woytowicz
Stefania Woytowicz, one of the greatest Polish sopranos, has died at the age of 80. Her repertoire ranged from the Baroque music of Bach to 20th century contemporary compositions. She was especially connected to Polish music and her recordings of Szymanowski’s works and Górecki’s 3rd Symphony are considered to be some of the greatest.