On February 17-18, ensembles of the Warsaw Philharmonic performed the music of Krzysztof Penderecki and César Franck, conducted by Jurek Dybał. In the first half, excerpts from an unfinished opera by Penderecki titled Freda were given their world premiere. The composer began working on Freda with text by Jean-Baptiste Racine, but did not complete the…Continue Reading Penderecki’s ‘Fedra’ Opera Premiere
On February 18, 2023, the Polish Chamber Choir hosted a concert in celebration of the 550th birthday of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernico. Copernico is most famous for being one of the first to propose the idea that the sun is stationary and that the earth revolves around it, juxtaposed with the opposite that was believed…Continue Reading 550th Birthday of Copernicus & 45th Anniversary of Polish Chamber Choir
The Zarębski Piano Duo is comprised of Piotr Różański and Grzegorz Mania—two professors of piano from the prestigious Penderecki Music Academy in Kraków, and co-founders of the Polish Chamber Musicians Association (SPMK). From March 9-11, the duo will perform two concerts and give a lecture at various venues in Los Angeles. Their LA concert programs on March 9 and 11…Continue Reading Zarębski Piano Duo in LA from March 9-11
On Wednesday March 22nd, mezzo-soprano Katarzyna Sadej will be at USC as a guest speaker in collaboration with USC Levan Institute for the Humanities’ “Sound In Sacred Spaces” series. As a speaker for this, Sadej will be presenting her Earth Singing Project, a project in which she records herself singing live in natural landscapes to…Continue Reading Earth Singing Project with Katarzyna Sadej
On February 18th the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra will perform compositions by legends of Polish Music at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Studio. The soloist of the evening will be the saxophonist Henryk Miśkiewicz, who will perform a piece by Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski. The second part will feature the Symphony No. 1 by Henryk…Continue Reading Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra: Wróblewski and Wars
On February 11, NOSPR will host another concert of the Silesian Quartet, as part of their series ‘Mieczysław Wajnberg – all string quartets – following dedications’. The overall series includes 17 string quartets performed in 6 concerts by the ensemble. On this program, the Silesian Quartet will present the composer’s String Quartet No. 4 Op. 20, String Quartet No….Continue Reading Silesian Quartet: Mieczysław Weinberg Series
The 20th iteration of the Witold Lutosławski ‘Chain’ festival has started! From January 28 – February 12, 2023 concerts will take place at the Polish Radio’s Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio. At the festival, there will be Polish premiers of works by Alexander Goehr, Wallingford Riegger, Per Nørgård, Sándor Szokolay, Frank Martin, Sándor Veress and Willem…Continue Reading Witold Lutosławski Festival ‘Chain XX’
The rapid approach of the holidays and the New Year on the horizon must have motivated many of our friends to contribute a number of fascinating items to the Polish Music Center’s book and media libraries at the end of 2022. As always, we are delighted to be on the receiving end of such generosity…Continue Reading A Blizzard of Late 2022 Gifts
Dr. Małgorzata Sieradz sent us recently the Vol. II of Adolf Chybiński—Ludwik Bronarski, Korespondencja 1922-1952. Vol. II of this series covers the years 1941-1952, ending with Prof. Chybiński’s death on 31 October 1952. It is the continuation of a fascinating exchange of letters between the legendary Polish musicologist—who was active in Kraków, Zakopane, Lwów and,…Continue Reading PMC GIFTS/January 2023
On November 26, the Polish Composers Union (ZKP) held a concert in celebration of the 80th birthday of former vice president of the Katowice branch of the union—composer, educator, publicist and musical organizer, Ryszard Gabryś. Entitled ‘Camerata to the Composer,’ the concert was performed by Camerata Silesia in the chamber hall of NOSPR in Katowice….Continue Reading Ryszard Gabryś 80th Birthday Celebration & Premieres