Very few artists earned the honor of having their family name converted into a noun describing a wildly popular fad, but this little fact is still another item on the long list of lifetime achievements of Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Somewhat delicate and graced by an engaging smile topped by a shock of auburn hair, young…Continue Reading Paddymania in Poznań!
Amazingly enough, Józef Beer (1908-1987), a very successful composer of operas, operettas and other stage works, is still largely unknown in Poland. Born near Lwów (now Lviv), he came from a well-to-do family of bankers and, at his father’s insistence, first studied law at the University of Lwów. After getting a law degree, Beer entered…Continue Reading Polish Operetta Premiere by Józef Beer
LUTOSŁAWSKI BIEN PRÉSENTÉ Our friends at the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in Montreal pleasantly surprised us with their recent gift of a book, Lutosławski—Music and Legacy, courtesy of the Institute’s Chief Librarian, Stefan Władysiuk. Published in 2014 and edited by Stanisław Latek and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, this carefully prepared volume evolves around four…Continue Reading Gifts to PMC: Nov. 2020
The Broward County Main Library is graciously presenting a special live broadcast featuring a conversation with 2020 Competition laureate, Chelsea Guo and Executive Director, Barbara Muze. Following the conversation, Chelsea’s performance from the 2nd round of the competition in an exclusive video broadcast. Be sure to register now and tune in on Saturday, November 14…Continue Reading Chopin For All & Give Miami Day
On November 6-7, the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles will present this year’s exciting lineup of concerts and accompanying events. Due to the pandemic and social distancing restrictions, all of the 2020 Festival events will take place online. On Friday, November 6, the Festival will celebrate Ignacy Jan Paderewski’s 160th birthday with an online Gala…Continue Reading 2020 PADEREWSKI FESTIVAL IN PASO ROBLES
On October 30, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra plays Jukka Tiensuu’s nemo and Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 with conductor Tarmo Peltokoski and Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski. The concert will be held at the Helsinki Music Centre, but will be live-streamed via the venue’s website at areena.yle.fi and will continue to be viewable following the live…Continue Reading Anderszewski in Finland
The Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles announces the winners of the 2020 Youth Piano Competition. Due to the pandemic, this year’s Youth Competition auditions were held virtually and participants were invited to submit their performance by video. The jurors—Cal Poly professors India D’Avignon and Paul Woodring, and Paderewski Festival Artistic Director and USC Polish Music…Continue Reading 2020 Paderewski Festival Youth Piano Competition
A virtual lecture entitled “Music and Resilience in Early Postwar Poland” will be presented by Mackenzie Pierce, assistant professor of musicology at the University of Michigan, on October 28. This event is hosted by U-M’s Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies (CREES) in the ‘CREES Noon Lecture’ series. Registration for this Zoom webinar…Continue Reading Virtual Lecture: “Music and Resilience in Early Postwar Poland”
Dr. Nancy Fierro, a Los Angeles area pianist long associated with the Polish Music Center and a devoted champion of women composers, recently uploaded some of her recorded performances to YouTube. Her first batch of links features works by Maria Szymanowska (1789-1831), a brilliant pianist and composer who was one of the first professional virtuosos…Continue Reading Fierro on YouTube
The 2020 Gramophone Classical Music Awards—presented in collaboration with Apple Music, E. Gutzwiller & Cie, Banquiers and Help Musicians UK—held an outdoor and virtual ceremony on the evening of October 6. The ceremony can still be viewed online at Youtube. During the ceremony, recipients of the Recording of the Year Award, Artist and Young Artist…Continue Reading Weinberg Takes Gramophone Recording of the Year