Pianist Yulianna Avdeeva recently released an album returning to Chopin and highlighting her journey with the composer’s music. After winning the XVI International Chopin Competition 14 years ago, she is ecstatic to share these late works of Chopin, mostly inspired by nature. This album has already garnered international attention, as it was recently featured in…Continue Reading Chopin: Voyage – Yulianna Avdeeva
Cellist Lars Hoefs, a longtime friend of the USC Polish Music Center and an exceptionally dedicated advocate for Polish music around the world, has recently published an album of cello and piano music, entitled “Villa-Lobos, Grand Concerto for Cello and Piano.” What is quite interesting—and very much in line with Lars’s ongoing research of Chopin’s…Continue Reading Around the World with Mazurkas
Following his August recital in San Francisco, Polish pianist and composer Tomasz Kamieniak came down to Los Angeles and visited the PMC. This Berlin-based musician came bearing several gifts that will expand our score and sound libraries. Kamieniak As Composer In the pride of place among the gifts is the set of solo piano pieces…Continue Reading Kamieniak Visit & PMC Gifts
RecArt, a relatively new recording label based in Poznań, Poland, has released four albums in the past few months that feature Polish musicians and composers. These albums showcase the depth and richness of Poland’s musical heritage, from classical to contemporary compositions, and highlight RecArt’s dedication to preserving Poland’s musical legacy while exploring new creative horizons….Continue Reading New All-Polish Recordings on RecArt
From the Chopin University Press The Polish Music Center recently received a large package of gifts for our library from our colleagues at the Chopin Music University. Sent by Marzena Radowska, the delivery was filled with fascinating recordings made by musicians associated with this prestigious institution, many of which are award nominees or winners already….Continue Reading PMC Gifts: May/June 2024
The latest album produced by the Stowarzyszenie Polskich Muzyków Kameralistów (Society of Polish Chamber Musicians) on their in-house label, SPMK Records, features works by Szymon Laks, Mieczysław Weinberg, and Karol Rathaus. The biographies of these fascinating composers are entangled in the difficult history of the 20th century, and this rarely-heard combination of their works tells…Continue Reading New CD From SPMK
On May 28, the Silesian Philharmonic hosted a birthday gala for Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa, featuring works of the outstanding composer. The event featured a screening of the film Under Pressure of Sound and Word, followed by a celebration with the composer on her new monographic album on the Anaklasis label (ANA 030). It concluded with a…Continue Reading Wnuk-Nazarowa Birthday Gala in Katowice
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
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
The National Philharmonic in Warsaw has released a new album – Szymanowski Reimagined (FN 08/ACD 330), featuring outstanding violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł and the National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Andrzej Boreyko. Transporting listeners on a fascinating journey through varied musical landscapes, the album contains some of the most interesting piano compositions by Karol Szymanowski,…Continue Reading New Szymanowski Album by Warsaw Philharmonic