By Marek Zebrowski One cannot predict anything, but I would nonetheless like my music to survive, just like Szymanowski’s. Times have changed, yet Chopin’s music remains. Thus, I hope, my music will also remain.” [Penderecki for National Chopin Institute, quoted at onet.pl] Krzysztof Penderecki died in Kraków in the early hours of Sunday morning, March…Continue Reading In Memoriam Krzysztof Penderecki
By Marek Zebrowski Joseph Anthony Herter, conductor, author and scholar, professor of music and concert producer, died in Warsaw on 12 December 2019. He was 74 years old. It was a long journey from Detroit—a great Midwestern metropolis with a huge Polish émigré community—to Warsaw, which eventually became Joe Herter’s adopted homeland. This continental crossing…Continue Reading In Search of Harmony: An Obituary of Joe Herter
Jan Kulma, theater and television director, musician, philosopher, writer, Home Army soldier, participant in the Warsaw Uprising, husband of poet Joanna Kulmowa, and co-founder of the Warsaw Chamber Opera, passed away on 30 August 2019. He was born in 1922. During the Warsaw Uprising, Jan Kulma belonged to the 125th platoon of the second company…Continue Reading Jan Kulma Obituary
Polish composer Boguslaw Schaeffer died on July 1, 2019 in Salzburg. Born on June 6, 1929 in Lviv, he was 90 years old. Schaeffer made his compositional debut at the age of 17. Over the course of his life, he wrote about 550 pieces of music in 23 different genres, including symphonic, chamber, solo, sacred…Continue Reading Bogusław Schaeffer Obituary
By Marek Żebrowski With great sadness, we note the passing of Dr. Zbysław Petryka, a longtime friend and supporter of the Polish Music Center. He died on January 18 and was 88 years old. He is survived by his sister, niece and her family in Poland. Born on 11 February 1930 in Warsaw, Dr. Petryka…Continue Reading Farewell Dr. Zbysław Petryka
The Polish premiere of Epitaph for Paweł Adamowicz composed by Katarzyna Kwiecień-Długosz will take place on January 18. Monika Kaźmierczak will perform the piece on the carillon of the St. Catherine’s Church in Gdańsk. The composer dedicated the Epitaph to the recently murdered Mayor of Gdańsk, Paweł Adamowicz, whose name and city are referenced within the composition of the work…Continue Reading Musical Epitaph in Memory of Paweł Adamowicz
Just over a year ago, on 23 June 2017, Polish virtuoso violinist, Jerzy Milewski, died in Brazil after a long illness. Shortly thereafter, we published his obituary, noting the sadness and great loss to Polish music in his passing. The strength of Milewski’s character, his gregarious personality and great mastery of the violin remain firmly…Continue Reading Milewski Remembered In Brazil
Son of the world-famous pianist and post-romantic composer, Zygmunt (Sigismond) Stojowski, and acclaimed pianist and teacher Luisa Stojowska, Henry passed away in Richmond, Virginia USA on Sunday, 2 September 2018. Born prematurely in Fontainebleau, France, while his parents were on a European concert tour, he was christened with the name Henri in honor of the…Continue Reading Obituary: Henryk (Henry) Jordan Stojowski
Tomasz Stanko, renowned Polish jazz musician, died on July 29 in a Warsaw hospital at the age of 76. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year. Tomasz Stanko was born in Rzeszów, Poland on July 11, 1942. He started his studies with classical piano and violin, but eventually switched to the jazz…Continue Reading Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko has passed away
On July 2nd, at the age of 86, Kazimierz Rozbicki passed away. He was a composer, conductor, journalist (for “Ruch Muzyczny”, among others), teacher. He had an immense impact on Polish culture, receiving such honors as the Bronze Medal “Gloria Arits” and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. He had been a…Continue Reading Kazimierz Rozbicki Has Passed Away