Tag: Contemporary Music

Premieres at 2023 Christmas Festival “Art Mintaka”

Swiateczny Festival Art Mintaka

The 5th anniversary of the Christmas Festival “Art Mintaka” will be held on December 8-10, 2023 at the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz. This lesser-known Festival features works by Polish composers, including five world premieres. Concerts will be performed by excellent instrumentalists, including: percussionist Miłosz Pękała, pianist Piotr Nowicki, cellist Gustaw Bafeltowski,the Herbert Piano…Continue Reading Premieres at 2023 Christmas Festival “Art Mintaka”

The Forgotten Prelude and Fugue of Meyer-Shostakovich

Earlier this month, long-time PMC collaborator pianist Seoyon MacDonald released the first digital recording of Krzysztof Meyer’s completion of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue in C# minor. Based on his previous work writing a bestselling biography of Shostakovich and orchestrating several of his works, Meyer was given the Prelude and Fugue in C# minor in…Continue Reading The Forgotten Prelude and Fugue of Meyer-Shostakovich

Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers

The Krakow Branch of the Polish Composers’ Union (ZKP) has announced the 7th edition of the Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers. For composers of any nationality that are 35 or younger, this is an excellent opportunity to present your work to the Polish audience. Applications are due January 31, 2024 This year, the…Continue Reading Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers

Czarakcziew & Kowal Honor Joanna Bruzdowicz

This November marks two years since the passing of Joanna Bruzdowicz (1943-2021), one of the top Polish composers and promoters of Polish culture. Alongside Grażyna Bacewicz, Anna Maria Klechniowska, Bernardetta Matuszczak, Barbara Niewiadomska, and Marta Ptaszyńska, Bruzdowicz was one of several Polish female composers who studied with the famous Nadia Boulanger in France.  Joanna Bruzdowicz…Continue Reading Czarakcziew & Kowal Honor Joanna Bruzdowicz

Ptaszyńska World Premiere

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

World Premiere of Meyer’s New Opera

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

The New Voices Collection Grows!

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!

Warsaw | ‘Elektro’: Electrobots

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 ‘KILAR | GLASS’ US Tour

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

Magdelena Fillipczak Carnegie Hall Debut

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