Internationally award-winning Polish guitarist and composer Marek Pasieczny is one of the most respected contemporary composers writing for the guitar today. As a composer, guitarist, lecturer and adjudicator, Pasieczny has appeared regularly at festivals in Europe (Poland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, and Italy), Asia (China, Japan), Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Pasieczny also holds three Master Degrees in music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, UK (for composition and performance with distinction) and “Karol Lipinski” Academy of Music in Wroclaw, Poland (for performance with distinction). In addition, he received his PhD at Surrey University in Guildford, UK in December 2015 and has since taught composition and orchestration at the university.
Within the past year, Pasieczny released two new world premiere recordings that have been made available worldwide:
Neo Variations (Tribute to John Towner Williams) EP
Marek Pasieczny: Fanfare and Theme, Variation I and II, Variation III and IV, Variation V, Finale for solo guitar
Marek Pasieczny – guitar
SLE London Records (11 Apr 2016); Available at itunes.apple.com
“All my life as a composer I have been a huge fan of film music. There is no other contemporary musical genre with so much variety and openness to any kind of music and compositional techniques as in film music. Here, the past meets the future, where the heritage of past composers are used in new ways and combined with new technologies. The prefix ‘neo’ in the title of this variations is a testament to the converging of the old and new. The language of the entire variations is ‘neo’ in some way, either neo-classical (e.g. opening ‘Fanfare’ or Var. II), neo-romantic (main Theme, The Finale), or neo-impressionistic (Var. I, III, IV, V).
One of the most significant film composers in the history of world cinema is the American composer John Towner Williams. This piece is my tribute to him, mimicking the proverbial triumphant symphonic opening in the form of a Fanfare before introducing a lyrical ‘movie’ theme. The five variations that follow are arranged in the neo-classical and neo-impressionistic style.” – Marek Pasieczny
To listen to the world premiere recording of the album or to read more about the piece and the technique of parallel triads, visit youtube.com. The beautifully published score can also be found at pasieczny.com.
Pasieczny: Piano Music
Marek Pasieczny: Anamnesis 3: After Tōru Takemitsu, Lutoslawski: in Memoriam 3, Scintilla 3: After Arvo Pärt, Fantasie: en hommage à Frédéric Chopin for solo piano
Sylvia Sze-Hua Jen – piano
SLE London Records (25 Feb 2016); Available at itunes.apple.com and amazon.com
Taiwanese-born South African pianist Sylvia Sze-Hua Jen began piano lessons at the age of 4, appearing for the first time in public at the age of 6. By the time she was 10, Sylvia had debuted her first concerto performance with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra (JSO) and won her first prize at a national music competition. Since then, Sylvia has participated in numerous national and international competitions claiming many prizes and awards. She has also travelled extensively around the world for concerts and masterclasses including USA, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom.
Pasieczny acknowledged Zen’s talents by writing and producing compositions especially for her, including those on one of his latest albums, Pasieczny: Piano Music. Though the world premiere of Anamnesis for solo piano was performed two years ago, the intricate and eerie feeling of the piece remains captured through Zen’s dynamic contrasts in the opening tracks of the CD. To listen to a sample of the album, visit facebook.com.
[Source: pasieczny.com]