The Friends of Polish Music (FPM) was a nonprofit organization founded in 1981 by Wanda Wilk under the auspices of the School of Music at the University of Southern California. Its objective was set to correct the past neglect of knowledge about Poland’s contribution to the commonweath of western music in the scholarly literature and to help make the music of Polish origin an integral part of the mosaic of the musical culture of America.
The first activity of FPM was the organization of the Szymanowski Centennial Festival at USC in 1982. The four-day festival devoted to Poland’s greatest composer after Chopin, featured lectures by leading scholars from England, Poland and the U.S.; performances by local and guest artists, and concerts by the USC and a local community orchestra. A modified version of the exhibit on Szymanowski later travelled for more than a year to more than twenty universities across the USA.
The large and continuous mail response since the festival attested to the lack of available information on Polish music and pointed to the need that something had to be done. The festival gave credibility to the FPM, securing strong support of the Dean of the School of Music. FPM crystalized its plan and was set on the road to accomplish its goal of making Polish music known internationally, by publishing scholarly monographs on selected topics of Polish music (PMHS), supporting the Polish Music Center (the designated publisher of the book series from 2000); stimulating interest and research in Polish music in academic circles (Wilk Prizes); and making available information pertaining to Polish music.
Upon the death of Wanda Wilk in 2009, the efforts of the FPM were folded into the general work of the Polish Music Center.
FPM Membership
Regular member (annual dues) ……………………………………………….. $40.00
Sustaining member (annual dues) ……………………………………………… $120.00
Patron member ……………….. $1,000.00
Benefactor …………………….. $10,000.00
FPM Board of Trustees
Wanda Wilk, President
Stanley R. Kersten, Vice-President
Dr. Janice Foy, Secretary
Stefan P. Wilk, M.D., Executive Director
Edwin Marzec, Esq.
Zbigniew Petrovich, M.D.