During World War II, Polish-Jewish luthier Franciszek “Franz” Kempa was imprisoned at Dachau, the first concentration camp established by the Nazis in 1933 in southern Germany. Based on the discovery of a note hidden in a recently examined instrument, it seems that Kempa masterfully crafted a violin out of the crude materials available to him…Continue Reading Violin Made in K. L. Dachau Discovered!
During their recent tour of the U.S. and Switzerland, the Karolina & Iwo Duo visited the Morgan Library and Museum in Washington to perform their arrangement of a previously unknown Waltz by Fryderyk Chopin. Discovered by curator Robin McClellan while cataloging the Arthur Satz Collection, this significant piece is the first major Chopin discovery since…Continue Reading Karolina & Iwo Duo Perform Recently Discovered Chopin Waltz
From June 13–18 in New York City, the 2025 Jazztopad Festival will present a lineup including: Immanuel Wilkins with the Lutosławski Quartet (World Premiere – watch live here), Michiyo Yagi with Hamid Drake, Patricia Brennan & Maciej Obara, Maciej Obara NYC Quartet with John Patitucci & Nasheet Waits, Wacław Zimpel with Brooklyn Raga Massive with…Continue Reading 2025 Jazztopad NYC Festival
The 2025 season finale of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic on May 30 will mark a significant artistic moment with the world premiere of the Non-Academic Overture by Agata Zubel. Born in Wrocław, composer Agata Zubel returns to her hometown with a new composition commissioned by the National Forum of Music as part of the “Composers’…Continue Reading Zubel’s “Non-Academic Overture” Premieres in Wroclaw
The 35th edition of the International Music Course in Opole, held in conjunction with the 18th Silesian Summer of Music Festival, will take place from August 5 to 16, 2025. Supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage through the Culture Promotion Fund, this special anniversary year welcomes both solo performers and chamber ensembles….Continue Reading 35th Int’l Music Course in Opole
The Polish Chamber Musicians’ Association (SPMK), publisher of Notatnik Pianistyczny, invites composers to participate in the “Chopin Inspirations” composition competition. Celebrating the enduring legacy of Fryderyk Chopin, the competition seeks original piano miniatures inspired by Chopin’s iconic waltzes or mazurkas. Submissions are open until June 30, 2025, with two competition categories: While there is no…Continue Reading “Chopin Inspirations” Composition Competition
A Review by Marek Zebrowski Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man, first published in the mid-1960s, has returned to the public eye and ear in recent years. A film adaptation of this celebrated novel by Tom Ford (who also helmed the film project) appeared on screens in 2009, and this spring an opera based on Isherwood’s…Continue Reading A Signal Achievement
As the grand finale of the Westwood Library’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, the LA Musical Salon presents a special concert featuring the Three Yoder Brothers on Saturday, May 10. The three Polish-American pianists Łukasz, Kasper, and Dominik Yoder—all graduates of the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music—will present a program titled The Virtuoso Piano. The Yoder…Continue Reading The Yoder Brothers in Concert in Westwood
The Krakow International Festival of Composers has long been a vital platform for showcasing contemporary music, both from Poland and abroad. As it enters its 37th edition this May, the festival continues its legacy of commissioning, supporting, and celebrating new music with an impressive lineup of thirty-one world premieres. Held annually since 1989, this Festival…Continue Reading World Premieres at the 2025 Krakow Int’l Festival of Composers
Following on her triumphant return to Santiago, Chile to perform Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in April, Polish violinist Kinga Augustyn returns to the US for several concerts across the country in May. It starts with a Spring Concert in her adopted home of New York City at the John Paul II Friendship Center on…Continue Reading Kinga Augustyn Across the US in May