From February 4-5, 2015, the Copernicus Program in Polish Studies at the University of Michigan welcomes Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko to campus. The New Yorker has proclaimed Stańko as “one of the most original and creative jazz trumpet players in the world.” Inspired by early Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, he was 20 when he formed…Continue Reading Stańko to Give U-M’s Copernicus Lecture
A volume of new collaborations has been launched by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in tandem with OpenICE—a far-reaching initiative to build diverse new audiences internationally. During the next 18 months, ICE will commission and premiere a new body of repertoire from a diverse group of composers to be presented in free performances around the globe…Continue Reading Blecharz Comissioned By OpenICE
On January 19, London’s Barbican Centre announced its 2015-2016 classical music season and it includes three important Polish highlights. First, amongst the ‘Total Immersion’ days planned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra to highlight three towering figures of contemporary classical music, there will be a day devoted to composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. Held on October 3,…Continue Reading Polish Highlights @ Barbican In 2015/2016
Written for orchestra, organ and piano, the Symphony No. 4 of the late Henryk Mikołaj Górecki will be given its US Premiere on January 16-18, 2015 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall. As the composer was unable to finish the score in 2010 due to ill health, the final version was…Continue Reading Górecki’s 4th Symphony – US Premiere
Pianist, improviser and composer, Kuba Cichocki was already a highly acclaimed musician in Poland and Europe before he came to New York in 2010. He had played and recorded with some of the greatest musicians of Polish and international music scene, including Michael Urbaniak, Zbigniew Namyslowski, Urszula Dudziak, Aga Zaryan, Zbigniew Wegehaupt, Jerzy Małek, Jaromir Honzak, Grzegorz…Continue Reading Artist Update: Kuba Cichocki
One of the first concerts in the inaugural season of the new ICE Congress Centre in Kraków will feature Sinfonietta Cracovia’s program of Viennese classics on December 17, 2014. The program will include Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and his 29th Symphony, and the “Mercury” Symphony by Haydn. Another interesting item on the program is the Kraków…Continue Reading Sinfonietta Cracovia Celebrations
Tributes commemorating Polish jazz pianist and composer, Jan Jarczyk, continue worldwide since his untimely death in Montreal on August 3. Throughout his life, Jan had touched and enriched music-making not only in his native Poland, but also all across Europe, the United States and, finally, in Canada, where he resided for well over two decades….Continue Reading Worldwide Tributes To Jarczyk
November 3 marked the 10th anniversary of Professor Marek Stachowski’s death. A distinguished composer, pedagogue and Rector of the Kraków Music Academy, Stachowski was a significant presence on the Polish music scene. The Kraków Chapter of the Polish Composers’ Union and the Music Academy had jointly organized a series of concerts and lectures commemorating Stachowski’s…Continue Reading Kraków Commemorates Stachowski
Known around the world as “Armistice Day” or “Veterans’ Day,” November 11 is also Poland’s Independence Day, commemorating the restoration of Poland’s sovereignty after World War I following more than a century of partitions. Just like all other Polish diplomatic outposts around the world, each year the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in…Continue Reading Poland’s Independence Day Celebrated at USC
by Marta Gargas-Borowy Composer Roman Ryterband was born in Poland in 1914, and thus his centenary has been celebrated throughout 2014. Having left Poland during World War II, Ryterband and his family settled in Palm Springs, CA in 1967 and his life became forever intertwined with the cultural fabric of Southern Calfornia. Marking November as…Continue Reading Ryterband Anniversary Year