January 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the Polish Music Center at USC—a library and outreach center established for the promotion of Polish music and culture that has no equal anywhere in the world. The PMC was founded in January 1985 by retired music educator and a USC alumna Wanda Wilk (1921-2009), who had discovered that the USC…Continue Reading The Polish Music Center is 30!
On Tuesday February 24 at 7:30 p.m., Polish musical heritage will be celebrated on the USC campus. The Cracow Duo—a cello and piano ensemble of two young professors from the Kraków Music Academy—will present a recital featuring works by Aleksander Tansman, Krzysztof Meyer, Tomasz Opałka, and Frederic Chopin, among others. In their recording career, the…Continue Reading Cracow Duo at USC and Beyond
Pianist Marek Szlezer, currently visiting Los Angeles to research Zygmunt Stojowski’s manuscripts at USC’S Polish Music Center, has kindly donated to us two of his latest DUX CDs featuring solo piano music by Krzysztof Meyer. Arranged mostly chronologically, Volume 1 contains Meyer’s early piano compositions, including Aphorisms for Piano, Op. 3 (1961), First Piano Sonata, Op. 5 (1962), Second…Continue Reading New PMC Gift
In 2015, the Artur Rubenstein Philharmonic Orchestra in Łódź is celebrating its centenary. In celebration, on February 17 the ARPO will hold an Anniversary Gala Concert featuring the World Premiere of Musica festiva for two organs and orchestra by Krzysztof Meyer. Musica festiva was commissioned by the ARPO especially for the occasion. It will be…Continue Reading Meyer Premiere In Łódź
…an engagingly unsettled chamber work that alternated abruptly between passages of eerie calm and others of frantic unsteadiness.” —Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle (1/26/2015) On January 25, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players [SFCMP] performed the World Premiere of Polish composer and vocalist Agata Zubel’s new chamber piece, entitled Where To, at Cal Performances…Continue Reading Zubel Premiere In California
The World Premiere of Overture for symphony orchestra by Zbigniew Bagiński will take place during a concert at the Philharmonic in Kielce on February 6, 2015. The Kielce Philharmonic commissioned this new piece by Bagiński under the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage’s “Composing Commissions” program, as implemented by IMiT. Also on the program is…Continue Reading Bagiński Premiere In Kielce
Led by Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic will give the Polish premiere of Górecki’s Fourth Symphony in the concert hall of the Łódź Philharmonic. Left unfinished by the composer at the time of his death in 2010, the work was completed and orchestrated by his son, Mikołaj, and presented to the…Continue Reading Polish Premiere of Górecki’s 4th in Łódź
On January 28, Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (MKiDN) published the results of the call for applications for the 4th edition of the ministry’s program “Collections – Composing Commissions,” which is operated by the Institute of Music and Dance in Warsaw (IMiT). 90 pairs of composers and music organizations were awarded grants amounting…Continue Reading “Composing Commissions” 2015-2016 – Results
Music of beauty and enormity… it is a perfect masterpiece… it is a hymn to humanity… to the international solidarity of those who, subjected to the most terrible evil, stood up against fascism. –Dmitri Shostakovich about The Passenger The Lyric Opera of Chicago presents the Chicago premiere of Polish-Jewish composer Mieczysław Weinberg’s The Passenger…Continue Reading Exploring Mieczyław Weinberg in Chicago
Award-winning Polish composer Marta Ptaszyńska will succeed Shulamit Ran as the artistic director of Contempo, the University of Chicago’s renowned contemporary music collective. Ran, the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Composition and a Pulitzer Prize winning composer, will retire in June after more than 40 years of service to the University and 12 years…Continue Reading Ptaszyńska to Lead Chicago’s Prestigious ‘Contempo’