Dear Newsletter Readers and all Friends of the Polish Music Center:
With a heavy heart and much regret, we must share with you the news of cancellations and closures that are affecting the operations of the Polish Music Center. First of all, our Spring Concert, California Dreamin’, scheduled for March 28 at USC’s Newman Recital Hall, has been cancelled. Several reasons contributed to this inevitable decision, among them the closing of the USC campus, considerable restrictions on large public gatherings, and a travel ban that prevented the performing artists’ travel to the United States.
Although circumstances beyond our control forced us to take this very unusual step, we are nonetheless working to reschedule this concert during the fall 2020 semester and plan to announce the date as soon as it is confirmed. We hope that you will join us at that time to hear several world premieres of works by leading Polish composers that were written especially for this occasion. In addition, we would like you to be present at that concert in order to celebrate with us the truly transformative endowment gift we recently received from Diane and Tad Taube.
Secondly, effective March 16, the Polish Music Center offices, library and research facilities will be closed until further notice. We realize that our closure may inconvenience students, faculty, researchers and other patrons from all over the world who interact with us on a daily basis. We will continue to monitor our emails remotely and try to answer as many inquiries as possible in a reasonable period of time. Please bear in mind though, that without physical access to our library and manuscript collection, not all requests may be satisfactorily fulfilled.
Thirdly, interruptions in regular mail deliveries may prevent us from communicating with you in a timely fashion. As soon as USC campus life—and all general day-to-day activities—return to normal, we’ll work through the inevitable backlog of letters and parcels and acknowledge their receipt as soon as it is practicable.
Finally, our Newsletter that has allowed us to communicate with you over several decades will also be impacted by the current situation. Nonetheless, during the coming weeks we shall attempt to continue updating you with the most important stories and news relating to Polish music worldwide to the maximum extent possible.
In closing, we would like to ask you to please take care of yourselves and each other as we carefully navigate our daily lives during the coming months. We look forward to the day when we’ll be able to safely gather together and listen to concerts by world-class artists, as well as to the moment when we’ll be able to resume our normal schedules and duties.
In the meantime, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at polmusic@usc.edu. With best wishes and thanks for your support and understanding, we remain,
Sincerely yours,
Marek Zebrowski, Director Krysta Close, Assistant Director