The new Flute Concerto by Marta Ptaszyńska—well-known Polish composer who is Professor Emerita of Music and the Humanities at the University of Chicago and honoree of the PMC’s 2005 Paderewski Lecture-Recital, as well as a significant donor to our unique Manuscript Collection—was world premiered on Sunday, October 29. The premiere performance was given by flutist…Continue Reading Ptaszyńska World Premiere
Krzysztof Meyer, a distinguished Polish composer who celebrated his eightieth birthday earlier this year, was celebrated once again after the October 14 premiere of his latest opera, Ślepy tor [Dead-end Siding] at Warsaw’s Teatr Wielki—National Opera. The opera’s libretto, co-authored by the composer with Antoni Libera (a writer and expert on Samuel Beckett), touches on…Continue Reading World Premiere of Meyer’s New Opera
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!
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
Sinfonietta Cracovia–one of the premiere chamber orchestras of Europe, and described by the New York Times as “vigorous and precise”–presents their flagship project “KILAR | GLASS” in the US this May and June. This project combines the film music and concert music of two great composers, Philip Glass and Wojciech Kilar, as part of the…Continue Reading Sinfonietta Cracovia ‘KILAR | GLASS’ US Tour
Award-winning Polish violinist Magdalena Filipczak makes her Carnegie Hall debut on Tuesday, May 30 at 8pm in Weill Recital Hall. The program is inspired by the fantasy motif, including Phantasies by Schubert, Wieniawski and Schönberg. Filipczak showcases selections from her debut album Essence of Violin –including works by Lutosławski, Britten, and Saint-Saëns/Ysaÿe. Filipczak will also…Continue Reading Magdelena Fillipczak Carnegie Hall Debut
The final concert of the 64th Tadeusz Baird Young Composers Competition and the announcement of the winners took place on April 16th, 2023 as part of the 7th International Festival of Piano Duos ‘Duettissimo!’. The Main Prize and a distinction were awarded. Works for this year’s competition were performed by Novi Piano Duo and Sanami…Continue Reading Winners of the 2023 Baird Young Composers Competition
USC Thornton School of Music’s new music ensemble, Thornton Edge, under the direction of faculty member Donald Crockett (pictured above with Witold Lutoslawski when the PMC was founded in 1985), presents the Slava Festival—an evening of contemporary music by composers of Ukrainian origin, including a world premiere by Composition alum Adam Karelin. Curated by Karelin,…Continue Reading USC Thornton ‘Slava Festival’ Celebrates Ukraine
On March 26, audiences in Paris will hear Liquid Air by Elżbieta Sikora. Composed in 2021 and commissioned by the Warsaw Autumn Festival, Liquid Air will be performed in its French premiere by Orchester Pasdeloup under the baton of Marzena Diakun. More information and tickets are available at concertspasdeloup.fr. Three weeks later, on April 19,…Continue Reading Elżbieta Sikora: French and World Premieres
Cellist Bartosz Koziak, previous PMC Paderewski Lecture-Recital performer, will perform on March 27 at the Berlin Philharmonic. He will perform Krzysztof Meyer’s Canti Amadei Cello Concerto accompanied by Kammersymphonie Berlin. Koziak has previously recorded this with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot. Listen to the recording here. March 27, 2023 | 8 PM Bartosz Koziak Performs…Continue Reading Bartosz Koziak at the Berlin Philharmonic