by Marek Zebrowski During the last weekend of March, the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City held their 66th Chopin Piano Competition. The preliminary auditions were conducted in early January by video submission and the semi-finalists were invited to compete at the Kosciuszko Foundation’s elegant headquarters on New York’s Upper East Side. This year’s competition…Continue Reading Kosciuszko Foundation’s 2019 Chopin Piano Competition
The Polish Government has declared 2019 the Year of Stanisław Moniuszko, who is known as the father of Polish Opera. Celebrations of this bicentennial will be inaugurated in the US with a concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City. The gala will showcase songs and opera arias by the composer as well as…Continue Reading Moniuszko Bicentenary Gala at Carnegie Hall
The 3rd Annual Chopin IN the City Festival took place from February 22 – March 1 at various locations throughout Chicago. The prolific line-up of Polish and US musicians included Polish jazz pianist Piotr Orzechowski, Polish accordionist Jarek Bester, Chicago-based Polish singer Grazyna Auguscik, Ukraine-based pianist Marianna Humetska, and the Atom String Quartet. Also included in…Continue Reading 3rd Chopin in the City Festival
A Century of Polish Piano Miniatures – Anna Szałucka I.J. Paderewski: Humoresques de concert, Op. 14: Book 1, “À l’Antique”; K. Szymanowski: 20 Mazurkas, Op. 50 (excerpts); G. Bacewicz: Piano Sonata No. 2; H.M. Górecki: Intermezzo; P. Mykietyn: 4 Preludia; M. Górecki: Piano Sonata; A. Panufnik: Modlitwa [Prayer] (arr. R. Panufnik) Anna Szałucka – piano…Continue Reading Discography – March 2019
A few weeks ago we received another gift of books and sound recordings from the Millenium Library, a venerable institution connected to the Polish school… Read more »…Continue Reading Gifts to PMC March 2019
The Kraków Philharmonic presented the first edition of the “Szymanowski / Poland / World” Festival from March 26-30, 2019. Highlighting music from 1850-1950, the festival portrayed the personality of the author of Stabat Mater as a great humanist with multifaceted interests who inspired artists from various fields of art. Karol Szymanowski traveled extensively around Europe, America…Continue Reading “Szymanowski / Poland/ World” Festival
The prestigious International Classical Music Awards, or ICMA, have been awarded for 2019 and Polish artists were honored in four of the categories. See below for details on the winning recordings and videos, which featured Polish early music specialist (now living in Switzerland) Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, renowned Polish theater director Krzysztof Warlikowski, and two ensembles associated with the…Continue Reading ICMA Awards for NFM
The second edition of the POLIN Music Festival was held from 15-17 February 2019 in Warsaw. Organized by the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, this year’s theme was “History Between the Sounds.” Featuring such performers as JACK Quartet, Michael Guttman, Linus Roth, Jing Zhao and the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra under the baton…Continue Reading Premieres by Śmigasiewicz and USC Thornton’s Adams at POLIN Music Festival
This year, the Fryderyk Music Awards (the Polish equivalent of the Grammys in the US) have changed the formula by opening up the the Awards Gala for the classical music category to the public. This year’s gala took place at the headquarters of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) in Katowice, whose excellent acoustics created…Continue Reading Fryderyk Music Awards
The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) invites music lovers to a special event during the last weekend of March: the 8th Festival of Premieres: “Polish Modern Music” in Katowice. From March 29-31, this year’s edition will present the World Premiere performances of nearly 30 works by Polish composers of various generations, from young novices to…Continue Reading 8th Festival of Premieres “Polish Modern Music”