An Obituary by Marek Zebrowski Hy Blythe, an iconic figure in Paso Robles for many decades and a great champion of Ignacy Jan Paderewski, died at home on 31 March 2023. He was 95 years old. He left his wife, Hellie (pictured together above, at their home in 2007), daughter Leslie and son William, as…Continue Reading MEMORIES AND INSPIRATIONS
Wojciech Stępień—a noted composer, music theorist and musicologist who, for the past year, was a visiting Fulbright Scholar at UCLA—recently dropped by the USC Polish Music Center. This wasn’t his first visit with us because, during the past year, Dr. Stępień attended several concerts we produced on the USC campus and at the Holocaust Museum…Continue Reading The New Voices Collection Grows!
The Polish-American community of the Los Angeles area has organized a day of Polish events in the arts district of Long Beach, California. This event is a celebration of Polish-American heritage and is also a fundraiser for the 2023 edition of the Polish Film Festival Los Angeles. The event will feature traditional Polish dance music,…Continue Reading Polish Day in LA
Leading classical music label NAXOS has several exciting new releases featuring Polish creativity. This month NAXOS highlights Polish opera and string quartets. Janek by Żeleński Described by period writers and fellow composers, Zygmunt Stojowski and Jarosław Zieliński, as the most influential Polish composer of the fin-de-siècle, Żeleński was the teacher of a generation of composers…Continue Reading New on Naxos June 2023
Sounds from New York City Jakub Polaczyk—friend of the PMC, composer and enthusiastic promoter of Polish music in New York City—sent us a monographic CD featuring variety of his compositions. The works on this Albany Records Troy1926 release include compositions for solo trombone, clarinet, percussion, and piano, string quartet, as well as songs for bass…Continue Reading PMC Gifts: May 2023
On Tuesday June 6, composer and clarinetist Michał Górczyński presented a concert played with musical robots during the second meeting of the ‘Elektro’ series at the Contemporary Music Space Hashtag Lab. This concert was a part of the ‘Warsaw Robot-Duets’ project, which is a presentation of the capabilities of machines and an attempt to transfer…Continue Reading Warsaw | ‘Elektro’: Electrobots
By Marek Zebrowski Rise Up & Resist was the official name for a concert commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, held in San Francisco on April 28. Sponsored by Tad and Dianne Taube and Taube Philanthropies, the program featured music by Ludwig van Beethoven, David Beigelman, Ernest Bloch, Frederic Chopin, Albert Harris,…Continue Reading MUSIC AND MEMORY RISE UP!
The 2023 Paderewski Festival will hold its annual Youth Piano Competition auditions on Sunday, October 15. Contestants will compete in two categories: Juniors (ages 10-14) and Seniors (ages 15-18). Juniors are expected to perform two contrasting solo piano works of their choice with the length of the program not to exceed 10 minutes. Seniors are…Continue Reading 2023 Paderewski Festival Youth Piano Competition
Held from June 23-30, the 2023 US edition of the Jazztopad Festival proudly features a series of commissions from the acclaimed Lutosławski Quartet in collaboration with jazz piano luminaries Craig Taborn and Uri Caine, EMMY-winning composer Don Davis and sought-after bassist and composer Michael Bates. Iraqi-American trumpeter and composer Amir ElSaffar will also perform on…Continue Reading Jazztopad Festival New York 2023
Praised by the New York Times as “the breakout star of the Met Opera’s Ring,” Tomasz Konieczny is one of the most outstanding bass-baritones today. Known as an excellent interpreter of Wagnerian characters, he has performed on the world’s biggest operatic stages, including at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, and the Bayreuth…Continue Reading Kosciuszko Fdn hosts Tomasz Konieczny Recital