Financial Gifts

The Polish Music Center at Thornton School of Music is a 501c3 organization operating under the aegis of the University of Southern California. As such, we receive physical and technological support from the University, including office space, computers, and telecommunication links. The University, however, does not finance our operations and PMC staffing is partially paid for by the Wilk Endowment Fund that provides for one full-time salary and one half-time position.

Since we do not have a separate fund dedicated to underwriting such activities as staging concerts and hiring performers, organizing and running festivals, maintaining the website, hiring students and office assistants, publishing and editing books, or cataloguing, digitizing and preserving our collections, the PMC must rely exclusively on individual donations. Such efforts were launched already by the Friends of Polish Music well before the PMC had a permanent home at USC. We continue this tradition by carrying out our annual end-of-the-year fundraising drives, as well as donations made by the public attending our events, researchers and other organizations, as well as users of our website, such as yourself.

To make a tax-deductible donation by credit card, please click the button above or visit giveto.usc.edu—you will find a PMC checkbox under University-wide Giving Opportunities > Centers and Institutes > Music. You may also call us at (213) 821-1356 to give by phone. Checks may also be sent to the mailing address in our contact section below. Please indicate “USC Polish Music Center,” either in the remittance line of your check or online, to ensure that your contribution is routed directly to our department.

As a donor to the PMC, you become a stakeholder in spreading knowledge and appreciation of the richness of Polish music and culture, and you join thousands of individuals and organizations that have supported our over 30 year history of serving this mission.

Item/Collection Gifts

Donated materials relating to Polish music form the core of our library and archives. Items that have been entrusted to the PMC for safekeeping and dissemination—such as books, music scores, recordings, concert programs, posters, manuscripts, photographs, and other memorabilia—constitute a substantial part of our holdings, and provide significant resources for scholars interested in researching various topics in Polish music.

Our library began with donations of books and scores from various publishers, especially PWM in Poland, civic organizations (such as the Polish Arts and Culture Foundation in San Francisco, or The Modjeska Club of Southern California), as well as many private individuals. The unprecedented Manuscript Collection began in late 1984 with scores donated by Witold Lutosławski and Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Large-scale collections of manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and other memorabilia of such leading figures in Polish music as Bronisław KaperIgnacy Jan PaderewskiLudomir RóżyckiRoman RyterbandZygmunt Stojowski, and Henryk Wars were donated to us by the composers’ families and friends and now reside in our PMC Archives.

Please contact us if you have any materials that might be added to our unique collections. We see our mission as the “Embassy for Polish Music” and make every effort to gather, preserve and present the rich heritage of Polish music to audiences abroad.

Thank you for your support!


DONORS

PMC Benefactors

Donors of $10,000 or more, who receive a name plate on the wall of the PMC

Dr. Stefan Wilk and Mrs. Wanda Wilk †
Wanda Bacewicz †
Alina Baird-Sawicka †
Witold Lutosławski †
Dr. & Mrs. Zbigniew Petrovich
Dr. & Mrs. Clark Halstead
Helena Nowicka, M.D.
Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Harris
Lottie Harasimowicz †
Dr. & Mrs. Matthew Mickiewicz


PMC Sustaining Members

Donors who have given gifts of $100 or more for at least 3 years in a row

Charles & Alice Bragg
Bruce Alan Brown
Dr. Bartosz Chmielowski & Rich Gallion
Consulate General of Poland in LA
Cyryla Cravens
Nina & Andrzej Dabrowa
Diana & Robert Eisele
Krystyna & Boguslaw Kuszta
Dr. Robert Lombardi
Eva Muchnick
Drs. Zbigniew & Zofia Petrovich
Maria & Edward Pilatowicz
Krzysztof Pilch & Marianna Chodorowska-Pilch
Christine Singer
Witold Swierczewski
Scott Whittle & Terry Tegnazian
Polish Center in Los Angeles
Waldemar Sadowinski
Miroslaw & Elzbieta Smogorzewski
Scott Westbrook
Roman Zawadzki


PMC Honorary Members

Joanna Bruzdowicz †
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki †
Jacek Kaspszyk
Zygmunt Krauze
Hanna Lachert
Adam Makowicz
Krzysztof Penderecki †
Marta Ptaszyńska
Stanisław Skrowaczewski †
Adrian Thomas
Krystian Zimerman
Teresa Zylis-Gara

† Deceased