Thursday, March 12, 2004 | 8:00 p.m.
Alfred Newman Recital Hall, USC (see AHF on campus map)
3616 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA
Reception following the concert
Admission is FREE and open to the public
Karolina Naziemiec Performs
From March 2004 PMC Newsletter
Karolina Naziemiec was born in Poland, where she studied viola at the Szymanowski High School in Katowice and the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. She is now pursuing a Masters degree at the USC Thornton School of Music with professors Ralph Fielding and Victoria Miskolczy. She has appeared with many orchestras in Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, and the USA. She is currently playing with several orchestras at USC and in the greater Los Angeles area, as well as teaching at the Young Musicians Foundation. Ms. Naziemiec plays with viola bow awarded to her by the Maestro Foundation in appreciation of her wonderful talent. In her most recent performance, Ms. Naziemiec performed solos in Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes and Max Jankowski’s Avinu Malkeinu (arr. by composer for viola and piano) with the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony as part of the Nimoy concert series.
For her next recital, at USC, Ms. Naziemiec will be giving an encore performance of the Jankowski, in addition to many other beautiful pieces, including: J.S. Bach – 1st Viola Sonata, in G-major; W. Lutosławski – Bucolics; W.A.. Mozart – Symphonie Concertante, for violin and viola; and D. Shostakovitch – Sonata for Viola and piano.
Karolina Naziemiec in Concert
From April 2004 PMC Newsletter
By Maja Trochimczyk
Violist Karolina Naziemiec (who also sings vocal jazz), recently gave two notable concerts in Los Angeles. On 15 February 2004, she was the soloist in a work for viola and piano by Max Janowski (1912-1991), entitled Avinu Malkeinu. She also played in a chamber version of Sergei Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes, both pieces programmed by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony in a concert entitled “World of Jewish Music” and included in their Nimoy Concert Series. The concert took place at the Temple Israel of Hollywood and was very warmly received by overflowing audience. Max Janowski, a Chicago-based Polish Jewish composer, focused predominantly on sacred music and was noted for several tunes that he wrote for Reform Synagogues, imitating Hasidic-style rhythmic patterns, and asking the congregation to sing along with the choir. Janowski also wrote a variety of Yiddish songs, so most of his music is very tuneful and attractive. Naziemiec’s interpretation of his music was very warmly received by the enthusiastic, predominantly Jewish audience.
The warmth and enthusiasm expressed by the public remained the same in the second concert given recently by Ms. Naziemiec. In a chamber/orchestral concert held at the Alfred Newman Recital Hall, University of Southern California, on 12 March 2004, Karolina Naziemiec was joined by Limor Toren on violin, Jerome Gordon on viola, Edith Orloff on piano, and a chamber orchestra conducted by Maxim Eshkenazy. The program, from Bach to Lutosławski revealed the versatility of her talent. Two sonatas filled the first half of the program, Johann Sebastian Bach’s First Gamba Sonata, BWV 1027, and Dmitri Shostakovich Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 147. Not being the greatest fan of Shostakovich’s chamber music (with one notable exception of his String Quartet No. 8) I could only admire the stamina of the violist who, with great determination and gusto, took us through the interminable length of the sonata. In contrast, the second half of the program was enjoyable in its entirety. Witold Lutosławski’s Bucolics was played in a version for two violas, but did not lose any of its rustic charm in the process. W.A. Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante for violin and viola, KV 364, was the crowning achievement of the evening. The violist showed here her dexterity, musicality as a soloist, as well as her ability to play in a duet and engage in exchanges with the orchestra at the same time. The timing was impeccable, the tone—lovely, the whole impression—charming and delightful.