Obituary by Marek Zebrowski Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, a prolific composer of film scores in Poland and Hollywood, died on May 21, 2024. He was 71 years old. Born on April 29, 1953, in Konin in western Poland, Kaczmarek pursued music and law, graduating in 1977 from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. By the…Continue Reading The Music Remains…
The Kosciuszko Foundationin New York City just announced the Marcella Sembrich International Voice Competition. It will be held October 12-13, 2024, and the winners will split over $20,000 of prize money. Singers of all nationalities aged 20-32 may apply and the application deadline is August 1, 2024. The Sembrich Competition is overseen by its Artistic…Continue Reading Sembrich International Vocal Competition in NY
by Marek Zebrowski The San Francisco Symphony Orchestra presented two concerts last weekend that opened with Overture for Orchestra, a brief and brilliant 1943 composition by Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969). Bacewicz—a virtuoso violinist and excellent pianist—showed her very best neo-classical side in this compact, six-minute-long work. Effective and challenging string writing coupled with bright woodwinds and…Continue Reading New Bacewicz: On Record and On Stage
May 3, 2024 marked the 233rd anniversary of Poland’s Constitution. This remarkable document was celebrated in downtown Los Angeles last Friday, with a gala event sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in LA. The audience assembled at Colburn School’s Thayer Hall was welcomed by Consul Mateusz Gmura, who served as the…Continue Reading 2024 Constitution Day Gala in LA
On April 26, the winners of the 65th Jubilee Tadeusz Baird Competition for Young Composers were unveiled during the Competition’s final concert, which was held for the first time at the Baird Philharmonic in Zielona Góra. Members of the Competition Jury included the following distinguished composers: Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil (chairwoman), Alicja Gronau, Rafał Kłoczko, Katarzyna Kwiecień-Długosz…Continue Reading 2024 Baird Competition for Young Composers
Writings on Paderewski & Chopin This month we received yet another donation from Rich Widerynski, a longtime PMC friend and supporter of not only the Polish Music Center but many Polish-American organizations in California. This time around, he presented us with several books on Chopin and Paderewski, including the following items: ▪ Marian Marek Drozdowski:…Continue Reading PMC Gifts: April 2024
On May 11 in Georgia, the Augusta Symphony will be led by their Music Director—German conductor Dirk Meyer—in the US Premiere of City Sketches by Henryk Wars. This jazzy suite fits perfectly on a program that combines works by American composers Leonard Bernstein (“Three Dance Episodes” from On the Town) and Duke Ellington (Suite from…Continue Reading US Premiere of Wars’s ‘City Sketches’
The world premiere of Marta Ptaszyńska’s latest work, Crystallites Polyphony for string quartet and marimba, will take place on May 31 at the Polish Consulate of Chicago. The program will include a number of works by Ptaszyńska, and will also be broadcast by Chicago’s WFMT radio on June 10. This highly-anticipated May 31 premiere will…Continue Reading Ptaszyńska’s World Premiere and Other News
Maestro Wojciech Milewski will close the 20th season of the Summerville Orchestra with Odwieczne pieśni [Eternal Songs], a symphonic triptych by Mieczysław Karłowicz, in concerts on May 17 and 18. Entitled “A Summerville Celebration” and performed just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, the concert program will also include Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute and…Continue Reading Karłowicz in Charleston
Operatic soprano Dominika Zamara will appear in her New York City debut solo recital, An Evening with Dominika Zamara, on May 22 at Mary Flagler Cary Hall. She will premiere eight new works by several of the New York Composers’ Circle members, including Galen Brown, Robert S. Cohen, Eric Heilner, Barrett Kalellis, Timothy L. Miller,…Continue Reading Dominika Zamara: Solo Recital Debut in NYC