Year: 2024

2024 PMC Spring Concert: Celebrating Bacewicz & Szymanowski

On March 23, the USC Polish Music Center welcomes to campus the esteemed Verona Quartet, presenting the annual PMC Spring Concert in collaboration with guest pianist and USC Thornton faculty member Bernadene Blaha. Entitled “Celebrating Bacewicz & Szymanowski,” this concert features pioneering female composer and polymath, Grażyna Bacewicz, and the father of Polish modern music, Karol Szymanowski, highlighting how…Continue Reading 2024 PMC Spring Concert: Celebrating Bacewicz & Szymanowski

Symphonic Piano Sound

A Concert Review by Marek Zebrowski Pianists Grzegorz Mania and Piotr Różański—also known as the Zarębski Duo—performed an afternoon of attractive music for piano four-hands on Sunday, February 25. Presented by the USC Polish Music Center, the concert was held at Murphy Recital Hall on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Observing…Continue Reading Symphonic Piano Sound

Sikora’s Nomination and Award

A recording of Elżbieta Sikora’s works for soloists and orchestra published by ANAKLASIS (ANA 024) was recently honored as one of only two albums nominated for the Fryderyk Award in the “Concertante Music” Category. Entitled Concertos, this album highlights three of Sikora’s compositions written during the past two decades. The first item on this disc…Continue Reading Sikora’s Nomination and Award

PMC Gifts: February 2024

Two Treasures from the National Film Archives During her recent PMC visit, Dr. Dorota Lekka, Head of the International Department of the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (pictured at left with PMC Director Marek Zebrowski and Assistant Director Krysta Close), donated to us two fascinating items: a DVD of Stanisław Moniuszko’s opera Halka, and…Continue Reading PMC Gifts: February 2024

Obituary: Ewa Podleś, an Opera Legend

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

Krzysztof Meyer Receives a 2024 Golden Fryderyk Award

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

2024 POLIN Music Festival

The POLIN Music Festival, a festival celebrating Polish and Jewish music, has recently finished four exciting concert evenings. Held from February 22-25 in the POLIN Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw, this year’s festival explored questions such as ‘What is Jewish music today?’. Performers range from new artists to international stars such the Grammy Award-winning…Continue Reading 2024 POLIN Music Festival

ZKP’s new “Polish Yearbook of Musicology” site

The “Polish Yearbook of Musicology”, published by the Musicologists’ Section of the Polish Composers’ Union, now has a new website! The “Yearbook” publishes articles and messages in Polish and English on all musicological subdisciplines, including selected materials from the Musicological Conferences of the Polish Composers’ Union.  You can visit the website here [source: polmic.pl]…Continue Reading ZKP’s new “Polish Yearbook of Musicology” site

Piotr Moss: 75th Birthday Concert

This month in celebration of the 75th birthday of Piotr Moss, the Polish Orchestra ‘Sinfonia Iuventus‘ performed a program the composer’s symphonic works. Held on February 17, the concert program included Zoo, a five-part Suite for orchestra that is a humorous reminiscence of the composer’s visit to the Warsaw Zoo. The audience also heard Moss’s…Continue Reading Piotr Moss: 75th Birthday Concert

Wnuk-Nazarowa Premiere in Kielce

Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa

On February 16, Polish composer Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa celebrated her 75th birthday with the premiere of her new piece: Seven Deadly Sins – Tragicomic Suite for Large Symphony Orchestra. The suite contains an ironic and sarcastic interpretation of the cardinal human vices, arranged in seven parts: Pride, Envy, Debauchery, Greed, Anger, Gluttony and Sloth. The piece…Continue Reading Wnuk-Nazarowa Premiere in Kielce