ZYGMUNT STOJOWSKI FESTIVAL IN POLAND
Zygmunt Stojowski, ca. 1890.
The Zygmunt Stojowski May Festival Committee takes pleasure in announcing a series of three May concerts celebrating the music
of one of Poland's greatest but most neglected post romantic composers. The three-day festival begins on Friday,
May 2, the composer's name day, with a performance at St. Zygmunt Church on pl. Konfederacji in Warszawa-Bielany
that will include music by both Stojowski and his Parisian teacher Leo Delibes. The main concert of
the festival will be on Saturday, May 3, Polish Constitution Day and the feast of Mary-Queen of Poland,
at 5:30 p.m. at the Chopin Academy of Music at ul. Okólnik 2 in Warsaw. A final concert featuring Stojowski's chamber works
will take place on Sunday, May 25 at the Paderewski Museum in Lazenki Park.
The repertoire of the May 3 concert will be multi-faceted showing the patriotic, religious and seasonal character of
the composer's music. Of special interest will be the first performance in Poland (and the second performance
anywhere with orchestra) of Stojowski's World War I cantata Modlitwa za Polskę. Set to the poetry of Zygmunt Krasiński,
it was first performed at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1916. The performers include the boychoir Szczecińskie
Słowiki (Bozena Derwich-conductor), the Warsaw Archdiocesan Cathedral Boys'and Men's Chorus Cantores Minores, two graduates
from the Academy of Music in Katowice, soprano Anita Maszczyk and bass Leopold Stawarz, and members of the Warsaw
Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Joseph Herter. A second cantata, Le printemps, will also be sung during the
concert and performed in an English translation which was prepared for the Buckingham Palace
presentation of the cantata for Her Majesty Queen Victoria.
Born in 1870 and brought up in Poland, Stojowski immigrated to the United States of America in 1905 and spent the rest of his life in New York until his death in 1946. He became a hero of both countries. On November 28, 1926, because of his untiring charitable and patriotic ventures for Poland during the First World War, Stojowski was awarded the order Polonia Restituta (Odrodzenia Polski). A Distinguished Service Medal from the US Treasury Department was also rewarded for his services in the campaign for sale of Liberty and Victory Bonds. In addition to that he was president of the New York political and cultural organization Kolo Polskie for over 20 years and was the founder of the Polish Institute of Arts and Letters, the prototype of today's Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences. Outside the realm of music, he was also a charter member of the American Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York, and a contributor to the chamber's magazine Poland America. During WW II, Stojowski was responsible for helping to organize the Commission for Polish Relief, Inc. and also served as a committee chairman for the Paderewski Testimonial Fund which were participating services of Polish War Relief through the USA National War Fund. Other wartime activities saw him serve as president of the Polish Review, a weekly magazine published with the assistance of the Polish Government Information Center, and founding and chairing the Polish Musicians' Committee which organized concerts for Polish Relief during WW II as well as sending packages to needy Polish musicians who had found their way to Western Europe at the end of the war. For more information about Stojowski:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/PMJ/issue/5.2.02/contents.html
Program for the May 3 Concert:
- The Polish National Anthem
-
Suite in E-flat for Orchestra, Op.9; I - Variations on Witaj królowo nieba (Salve Regina)
-
Cantata: Modlitwa za Polskę [A Prayer for Poland], Op. 40
-
Romance for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 20; with
Michal Osmycki, violin
-
Cantata: Springtime [Le printemps], Op. 7
There are still sponsoring opportunities for the Festival:
Private Sponsoring starts with donations at $50-99 or 200-399 PLN (Friends),
and goes up to $100-249 or 400-999 PLN (Donors) and $250 or 1,000 PLN + (Sponsors).
Friends, Donors and Sponsors are entitled to have their names printed in the concert programs.
All Friends, Donors and Sponsors will receive invitations to the festival events and reserved seating for the May 3 concert.
Corporate Sponsoring. There are three categories for corporate sponsors who would have their company logos printed on the concert
programs and posters: Silver Sponsors at $750 or 3,000 PLN; Gold Sponsors at $1,500 or 6,000 PLN;
Platinum Sponsors at $2,500 or 10,000 PLN. Eventually, the festival committee would agree to have
only one Exclusive Platinum Sponsor at $5,000 or 20,000 PLN. The Exclusive Platinum Sponsor
would be allowed to address the audience at the May 3 concert at the Chopin Academy of Music.
All corporate sponsors would receive reserved seating for the May 3 concerts. Gold and Platinum
Sponsors would be allowed to display transparencies in the concert hall foyer on May 3. Also,
all sponsors will be named in a feature story article about the festival in The Warsaw Voice towards the end of April.
Hopefully, other press-media sponsors will do the same.
Donations may be made out by check to Cantores Minores and sent to Joseph Herter, Al. Solidarnosci 95/99 m. 85 a, 00-144 Warsaw,
Poland, or by bank transfer to the choir's account in dollars at Kredyt Bank PBI S.A., V Oddział Warsaw, Poland, c/o of Stowarzyszenie
Spiewacze Cantores Minores, Account No. 25 1500 1272 1212 7003 0804 0000 or in Polish currency using the Account No.
40 1500 1272 1212 7001 1180 0000. The transfer should state that the money is being sent as a "donation for Stojowski May Festival."
Further information: Joseph A. Herter at joseph@warszawa.sky.pl or by telephone/fax at (48-22) 624-2201.
Festival Committee:
- Honorary Patron:
The Honorable Jolanta Danielak, Senate Vice-President of the Republic of Poland
- Dr. Alfred J. Stojowski, M.D.;
- Henry J. Stojowski, architect;
-
Krzesimir Debski, composer;
- Stanisław Dybowski, musicologist;
-
Dr. Joseph E. Gore, Esq., President of The Kosciuszko Foundation;
-
Dr. Thaddeus V. Gromada, Executive Director, Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences;
-
John M. Hein, University of North Florida; Piotr Moss, composer;
-
Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, Director of the Polish Music Center - USC;
-
Wanda Wilk, Polish Music Center - USC;
- Joseph A. Herter, conductor and chairman
CHOPIN EXHIBITION IN JAPAN
For more than 150 years, the exquisite beauty and fiery passion in the music of
Fryderyk Chopin (1810-49) has fascinated music
lovers in many countries. The composer, who was also a celebrated pianist in his day, lived his short, 39-year life in two countries:
Poland, where he and his mother were born, and France, his father's country. The two nations in him are represented
at the Chopin Exhibition at the Fuchu Art Museum in western Tokyo. The show opened on Saturday, the 193rd anniversary of the composer's birth.
This is the first time that Chopin-related artifacts from the Societe Historique et Litteraire Polonaise a Paris have traveled out of
France. After Tokyo, the exhibition is due to move on to Vienna in June and to New York in October.
The 171-year-old society, of which Chopin was a member, was founded by eminent figures who emigrated from Poland and at
times functioned as a government-in-exile of a nation that repeatedly suffered from partition and oppression at the hands of
neighboring countries. Indeed, it was Chopin's letter to the society expressing his gratitude for being accepted as a member
that confirmed his birthday was March 1, not Feb. 22 as was commonly believed until the late 20th century.
The letter is among about 100 items on display that illustrate Chopin's close association with the Polish community in Paris as
well as his daily life surrounded by music, friends and love.
One of the most treasured items on display is a short letter by Chopin to novelist George Sand written in 1843, soon after they
began a relationship that was to deeply affect both of them. The casual letter in Chopin's neat, delicate hand, which was attached
to a letter by Sand's son Maurice, is being shown in public for the first time. It is all the more precious as Sand is known to
have destroyed most of the letters she received from Chopin after the couple broke up.
At the opening of the exhibition, the letter, which had been privately owned for years, was ceremoniously handed to Leszek Talko,
the chairman of the society, by Takayoshi Azuma, the exhibition's organizer. Azuma's efforts in editing the catalogue
of Chopin-related items owned by the society won him the distinction of being the first Japanese to become a member.
The catalogue, with many illustrations, was published in Japanese last year ahead of other languages. Editions in
German and English are currently in preparation.
Those who know a thing or two about Chopin will also be surprised to see Delacroix's famous portraits of Chopin and
Sand together as a single painting at the exhibition. The originals, Chopin's portrait in the Louvre Museum in
Paris and Sand's in Copenhagen, were long known to have been a single work that had been cut in two after Delacroix's death,
possibly by an art dealer seeking a higher profit. For a long time, however, it was not clear how the two sections were
originally positioned as the Chopin portrait hand been trimmed much smaller than Sand's. After conducting painstaking
research on the two sections, in 1992, French painter Claude Moins reproduced the painting as it would have appeared
before being divided.
The reproduced painting, which is also on display at the exhibition, is now in possession of renowned piano teacher
and scholar Adam Wibrowski, who will lecture on the mystery surrounding the painting and how Chopin embodied both
Polish and French cultures on Sunday at Fuchu-shi Shogai Kyoiku Center near the museum. The lectures by Wibrowski,
who like Chopin was born in Poland and now lives in France, will be given in English with Japanese translation.
Also among the items on display is an armchair from the bedroom of Chopin's last apartment, which faced the Place Vendome in Paris.
Other treasured items on display include a lock of Chopin's hair kept in a small frame, the composer's death mask,
a mold of his delicate left hand and three manuscript pages. Paintings and prints of important Polish
figures who knew Chopin, annotated scores published during his lifetime and a Pleyel piano from the period
all add up to bring 19th-century Paris to life.
Moreover, subsequent artists' portraits and sculptures of Chopin show that the timeless beauty of his music continues
to inspire artistic souls today.
In the coming weeks, Chopin recitals related to the exhibition are planned by pianists Ikuko Endo (March 13 at Wien Hall in Fuchu),
Yukio Yokoyama (April 13 at the same venue), Takeshi Kakehashi (March 27 at Hokutopia Sakura Hall in Oji, Tokyo) and Ingrid
Fujiko Hemming (March 30 at Suntory Hall in Akasaka, Tokyo).
The exhibition will remain open through April 13 at Fuchu Art Museum in Fuchu, western Tokyo. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission at 4:30 p.m.;
closed on Mondays and March 10-14.) Admission: 800 yen for adults, 600 yen for students from middle school
to university, free for primary school and younger children. On March 9, Adam Wibrowski will
lecture on the Delacroix painting of Chopin and Sand at 10 a.m. and on Chopin's embodiment of
Polish and French cultures at noon. Admission free. (03) 5721-2097
[Reported by Yukiko Kishinami Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer]
JUST THE BEGINNING FOR SZPILMAN'S MUSIC
Los Angeles Times music critic, Don Heckman, reported on 14
March in a pop music review on the performance given at the
Mint in Los Angeles by Canadian singer Wendy Lands before an
overflow audience. He thought that the teaming of Szpilman
and Lands was "one of the more unusual combinations in recent
memory." Many of the songs were from a newly released CD,
"Wendy Lands Sings the Music of The Pianist, Wladyslaw
Szpilman." Heckman gives credit to the "album producer John
Leftwich for selecting a 'diverse representation of the
songs, commissioning a team of lyricists to supply new words
and arranging the music in updated musical settings." As
much as he liked the performance, he ended his review with a
question, "If the songs of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht can
still be heard and enjoyed in their original settings, why
not the music of Wladyslaw Szpilman'"
The eleven songs that received this transformation constitute
only a small part of the more than 500 songs that Szpilman
wrote. So, there is still room and time for others to step
in and translate more of Szpilman's legacy for the world to
enjoy. In the meantime if you want to hear Wendy "tell the
story of a most unusual composer" and hear her explain "how
great writers wrote lyrics inspired by Szpilman's melodies
and read her bio, visit the ASCAP site (www.ascap.com), and
visit Iclassics.com, if you wish to hear each of the eleven
songs in the album and read a feature article about Szpilman.
For more information about current successes of Szpilman-themed films, books, and recordings
visit the web site maintained by his son, Andrzej Szpilman in Germany: www.szpilman.net.
On the site you will find current information about Szpilman recordings released by Sony and the CD by Wendy Lands, as well as
numerous other items of interest for Szpilman's fans.
INTERNATIONAL MASTER COURSE IN JANOWIEC
International Master Course for Strings, Accordion and Chamber Music will be held in Janowiec, Poland on 14-24 August 2003.
The Janowiec Course in Musical Interpretation is a ten-day international course in interpretation for violinists, viola players,
cellists, bassists, accordionists and chamber ensembles, led by distinguished teachers from Poland, Europe and America.
The course is addressed to students of secondary music schools, college students and graduates. All classes
will be held in Janowiec castle which was built in Mediaeval times and is now undergoing restoration.
The castle is the perfect site for creative work. It is quiet and serene and offers beautiful views from the
castle hill out to the Vistula ravine and Janowiec's twin town, Kazimierz Dolny. The concerts accompanying
the course will be the perfect occasion to present the young adepts of instrumental music to visitors to nearby spas.
The program includes:
Individual tutorials - violin, viola, cello, double bass and accordion
Chamber music tutorials - string ensembles, accordion ensembles, mixed string and accordion ensembles.
Lectures, seminars, and concerts
Each active participant of the course will have 5 guaranteed individual tutorials or 5 chamber ensemble classes. Passive observers have a right to attend open classes, lectures and concerts. Individual tutoring, chamber ensemble classes and chamber orchestra classes will take place in the Janowiec castle interiors.
The course will be accompanied by a series of concerts, JANOWIEC INTERPRETATIONS, given by teachers and participants. The concerts will be held in Janowiec and nearby towns: Kazimierz Dolny, Pulawy and Naleczow.
The Faculty consists of international renowned virtuosi and ensembles:
Konstanty Andrzej Kulka - violin (AMFC Warsaw)
Adam Korniszewski- violin (Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels)
Stefan Kamasa - viola (AMFC Warsaw)
Piotr Reichert - viola, chamber music (AMFC Warsaw)
Cecylia Barczyk - cello (Towson University - USA)
Wojciech Walasek - cello, chamber music, chamber orchestra (AMFC Warsaw)
Leszek Sokolowski - double bass (AMFC Warsaw - Bialystok Branch)
Klaudiusz Baran - accordion, chamber music (AMFC Warsaw)
Charles H. Borowsky -( International Institute USA) - Music and Society Seminar
The American Virtuosi/The Borowsky Family Ensemble
The "Walasek" String Quartet
The cost is $ 400.00 for active participants and $ 350 for passive participants (auditors) and includes room and board, excursions and tuition.
The course offers accommodation in "Oblasowka" hotel/guest houses (two or three beds), 3 meals/day, 2 land and river
excursions, concerts. For more information contact: Cathy Jones at Intermuse P.O.Box 28060, Baltimore MD 21239 or intermuse@email.com.
Please hurry up, the deadline for registration is APRIL 30, 2003.
750 ANNIVERSARY OF ST. STANISLAUS
The year 2003 marks the 750th anniversary of the canonization of Poland's first saint, Stanislaus of Szczepanow, who suffered a martyr's
death as Bishop of Krakow in 1079. Slain at the altar by the king whom he had excommunicated, Stanislaus became a beloved
spiritual hero of his nation and immigrant communities throughout the world. In fact, the first two Catholic parishes to
serve the Polish ethnic group in New York State - in Manhattan and in Buffalo - were established 130 years ago,
and chose St. Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr, as their patron.
To commemorate this significant anniversary, St. Stanislaus BM Church,
founded in 1873 at Peckham and Townsend Streets on Buffalo's East Side, will present a special musical program
at 4pm on Sunday, June 29, 2003. Rev. Msgr. John R. Gabalski, PA, fifth pastor of the pioneer Buffalo parish,
announced that the "Cantata in Honor of St. Stanislaus BM", composed by Buffalonian Piotr Gorecki,
will highlight a mixed chorus of several hundred singers, vocal soloists and orchestra.
Piotr Gorecki, currently National Choral Director of the Polish Singers Alliance of America [PSAA],
spends his time composing between Western New York and Florida. He wrote and orchestrated the Cantata
in 1953, shortly after his arrival in Buffalo to begin a thirty-year career as organist and choirmaster
at St. Stanislaus BM Church. For many years, he was also choral conductor of several Western New
York singing societies: Chopin, Polish Singing Circle, Kalina, Paderewski, and the German Schwabenchor.
He has directed the Buffalo Civic Orchestra, and has been a piano soloist performing his works with
the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In September 2001, his Cantata was given its European premiere,
performed with soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Lower Silesian Opera Company in Wroclaw, Poland.
Several choral rehearsals for the Cantata presentation on June 29th will begin in February. In addition to
those who sing with PSAA choruses, individuals who like to sing and church choir members are invited to
join in this preparation and performance. Knowledge of Polish is not required, and language assistance
and taped rehearsal voice parts will be available. The PSAA, founded in 1889 with member choruses
in major cities in the USA and Canada, has also been invited to perform in Warsaw and Poznan in mid-August 2003.
A highlight of this trip will also be a presentation of the Cantata in Krakow, at the very site of the martyrdom
and on the very anniversary date of St. Stanislaus' canonization.
Further information about the Cantata, rehearsal times and sites, performances and the August trip to Poland
may be obtained from PSAA President Daniel J. Kij, by phoning (716) 822-5258, or by e-mail at DanielJKij@prodigy.net
[reported by Daniel Kij; DanielJKij@prodigy.net]
TRIP TO POLAND WITH PSAA
Polish Singers Alliance of America and Polish Genealogical Society of NY State invite interested parties to participate in a trip
to Poland between 12 and 27 August 2003. The flights are arranged to Warsaw with a return to Toronto and there are four options to chose from:
(A) JUST POLAND; or (B) POLAND & ROME;
or (C) POLAND & WILNO; or (D) POLAND & VIENNA.
For the first time since its founding in 1889, the Polish Singers Alliance of America [PSAA] is arranging a trip to Poland. . . PLUS! It's an affordable 15-day concert and sightseeing tour from Tuesday, August 12 to Wednesday, August 27, 2003. The Polish Genealogical Society of New York State [PGS-NYS] has expressed interest in joining in this trip, and we invite you and your friends. To the basic, we've added four days of visiting, or optional trips to Rome, or Wilno, or Vienna!
This year marks the 750th anniversary of the canonization of Poland's first saint, the martyred Bishop of Krakow, STANISLAW of SZCZEPANOW. The PSAA will honor him in Poland with several performances of the magnificent "Cantata in Honor of St. Stanislaus BM", composed and orchestrated in Buffalo by Piotr Gorecki, General Choral Director of the PSAA. The PGS-NYS members will particularly be interested in visiting archives, libraries, bookstores, and arranging guided tours of family hometowns.
(Trip A) JUST POLAND - $1779 for Cantata singers - $1829 for non-singers - 11-day guided tour: Sightseeing and Warsaw (concert), Krakow (concert on very anniversary at martyrdom site), Poznan (concert), visits to Zakopane (folk dance review), Royal Castle, Czestochowa (Mass), Zelazowa Wola (Chopin's home), Karolin (Mazowsze's headquarters), infamous Auschwitz, Warka (Gen. Pulaski's home), and Wadowice (John Paul II's birthplace). Shrines of St. Faustyna Kowalska and the Felician Sisters' Bl. Angela Truszkowska, world-famous Salt Mines at Wieliczka, receptions, a visit to Bialystok and the world's only international park at Bialowieza (European bison!), try your luck at the casinos, surprises, ognisko campfire, etc., PLUS four days in Poland on your own to visit family, or just explore.
(Trip B) POLAND & ROME - $2619 - 11-day Poland guided tour (like above); PLUS four
guided days in ROME: St. Peter's; Vatican; Pope's general audience; Coliseum; Felician Sisters Motherhouse; Forum; St. Stanislaus Church; sightseeing; museums; basilicas; etc.
(Trip C) POLAND & WILNO - $2149 - 11-day Poland guided tour (like above); PLUS four guided days in WILNO (now Lithuanian Vilnius): Famous Our Lady of Ostrobrama; St. Anne's Church; restored Cathedral; KGB museum; Adam Mickiewicz Memorial; TV Tower; Catholic and Orthodox churches; historic cemeteries; Vilnius University; Stebuklas "Miracle" Square; etc.
(Trip D) POLAND & VIENNA - $2149 - 11-day Poland guided tour (like above); PLUS four guided days in VIENNA: City tour; Kahlenberg (King Sobieski); Kulczycki's first coffehouse; Opera House; Schoenbrunn Castle (Maria Theresa) ; Lippizaner Horse Museum; St. Stephen's Cathedral; Ringstrasse; Prater; Danube, Mozart & Strauss; Grinzing; Giant Ferris Wheel; etc.
To insure traveler satisfaction, we have learned from past trips that this four-day break is great for you to visit relatives or friends, or "do your own thing". In 2001, twenty in our group flew to Rome for four days. A half-dozen stayed in Lwow (now Ukrainian Lviv), while ten others traveled around Poland by car with English-speaking guides for genealogical research off the beaten path. We can arrange trip insurance, a guided visit ANYWHERE, and car rentals, bus and train connections, personal guides and overnight accommodations. You can even plan to stay longer in Europe, and return at a later date. Through the PGS-NYS, we can help you trace and find distant relatives!
The WNY-Ontario contingent of our tour will leave from Toronto on Tuesday, August 12, and return to Toronto on Wednesday, August 27. We hope that many singers and friends from the Detroit, Syracuse, Cleveland, Johnstown, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Philadelphia, etc. areas will rendezvous with this PSAA tour in Warsaw and, should they wish, we can assist in making round-trip flight arrangements to Warsaw from your nearest airport. We will advise you the cost of the air-only and land-only portion of our Poland trip, should you wish to make other plans.
ALL-INCLUSIVE PRICE includes round-trip flights to Poland (plus for Trip B - to Rome; or Trip C - to Wilno), or by train (Trip D . to.Vienna); buffet breakfast and dinner daily; first-class hotels (double occupancy); admissions; sightseeing; taxes; porterage of two bags; gratuities; English-speaking guides; Buffalo bus to and from Toronto airport; luxury tour buses in Poland, Rome, Wilno and Vienna;. . . DETAILED ITINERARY ON REQUEST !
LIMITED SPACE! To hold your reservation, mail your $200 non-refundable deposit to order of: Interport Travel Service, Inc., 227 Lombard St., Buffalo NY 14212, by March 30, 2003 (balance due June 15, 2003).
Travel questions' Passport, travel insurance, single room, etc. . . . Contact Nick Lewczyk at Interport Travel Service, Inc.: phone 716-892-8002; FAX 716-897-3535; E-mail interport_travel@hotmail.com
PSAA and PGS-NYS questions' For location and time of Cantata rehearsals; copies of music scores; rehearsal tapes; genealogical assistance, etc.. . . Contact PSAA President Daniel J. Kij, 1200 Electric Ave., Lackawanna NY 14218-1417; phone (716) 822-5258; E-mail danieljkij@prodigy.net
BYRON JANIS AT 75
Pianist and Pittsburgh native Byron Janis, with his wife, Maria, celebrated his 75th birthday in March. Classical music critic of the Tribune-Review,
Mark Kanny, dedicated a profile to the pianist (published on March 22, 2003). Kanny wrote:
Janis is one of the great musicians western Pennsylvania has contributed to the world. He was born in McKeesport but was so gifted he studied as a child with legendary pianists Josef and Rosina Lhevine in New York City.
He made his Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra debut in 1944, playing Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with another local talent on the podium: Lorin Maazel, then 15 himself. The concert gained extra significance because pianist Vladimir Horowitz was in attendance. He was so impressed by Janis that he invited the young pianist to be his first student.
GRELLA MOZEJKO'S NEWEST HIT
Polish-born composer, Piotr Grella-Mozejko, residing in
Alberta scores well with "Epithanios threnos," (Lamentations)
a Double Concerto for violin, viola and string orchestra
commissioned by the Wilfred Lauier University Chamber
Orchestra. He dedicated it to music critic William Littler
of the Star newspaper, who was completely surprised that the
"Edmonton-based composer would want to honor a Toronto-based
music writer." He learned that the composer had been reading
his "reviews on the Star's Web site. The concerto, he
explained before its world premiere, represented his way of
thanking me." The music critic found the "piece worth
hearing, with a distinctive musical character and an
emotional communicativeness" and called it "a most flattering
concerto." He continued in his review with "by drawing
material from late-7th and early-8th century Byzantine chants
by St. Andreas of Crete, he also chose a means of
thematically unifying its nine short movements...The solo
instruments, played by violinist Jerzy Kaplanek and violist
Christine Vlajk of the Penderecki String Quartet, were
treated as extensions of the orchestra rather than as
subjects for virtuoso showcasing, with a sad lyricism
dominating most of the movements...The title "Lamentations"
fit this piece perfectly."
POLISH MUSICIANS IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
The third festival of classical music took place in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Each edition of the festival is dedicated to the music culture of
a different country. Thanks to the efforts of Charge d'affaires at the Polish Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Miroslaw Adamczyk, the organizers chose Poland as their subject.
During three days of the festival and four concerts Polish musicians featured music by Polish and foreign composers. The orchestral concert was given by
Varsovia Ensemble conducted by the concertmaster, Włodzimierz Promiński. The ensemble consists of members of eminent chamber music groups:
Kwartet Camerata (Włodzimierz Promiński, Andrzej Kordykiewicz, Piotr Reichert, Roman Hoffmann), Royal Quartet (Izabella Szalaj, Elwira Przybyłowska,
Marek Czech, Michał Pepol), wind quintet Tempo Prima active at the Polish Radio Orchestra (Marcin Kaminski, Krzysztof Kit,
Zenon Kitowski, Michał Wawrzyniak, Zbigniew Monkiewicz) and double bass player Leszek Sokołowski. Pianist Wojciech Switała also participated in the festival.
The program was rich and varied. Orchestral music featured "greatest hits" - overture to The Barber of Seville by Rossini, the Symphony in G minor
KV 550 by W. A. Mozart. The Quartet Camerata performed string quartets by Moniuszko and Dobrzynski and the Clarinet Quintet by Brahms. The Royal
Quartet presented the Second String Quartet by Szymanowski. Both ensembles joined forces in an octet to perform works by Mendelssohn and Shostakovich.
The violinists Izabella Szalaj and Andrzej Kordykiewicz performed solo parts in the Violin Concerto in A minor by Vivaldi.
A high point of the festival was the performance by pianist Wojciech Switała: Chopin's Piano Concerto in E minor and the
Andante Spianato and Great Polonaise in E-flat major, both in chamber versions with a reduced orchestra.
The Festival at Al Ain is a highly prestigious event in the United Arab Emirates. The Arab culture is based on a different understanding of the role
of music in society and the genres of music practiced locally differ enormously from those of the European tradition. However, the ruling family of Sheikh
Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan (the minister of culture of the Emirates) became the patrons of the festival in an effort to Westernalize the local cultures (another
aspect of these efforts is the import of Polish soccer players and coaches to develop a world-class soccer team, also a novelty in the Emirates).
The enthusiastic response of the audience to the performances by Polish artists gave a foretaste for future promotion of Polish culture in this Islamic nation.
As a result the musicians were invited for repeated performances in the country. Their choice of Chopin, Moniuszko, and Dobrzynski, among German, Italian and French
classics, was a great example of promoting Polish composers abroad. [Based on a report by Halina Prominska]
YOUNG COMPOSERS IN CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra featured original works written by two local
composers of a younger set to bridge the gap between classical standards and the contemporary musical world.
"We will be weaving two traditional pieces that the audience will feel comfortable with so they are not left in limbo,"
said Adrian Mackiewicz, artistic director of the orchestra. "But often times the very tough world of composing
is made more difficult because the audience has specific ideas as to what the music is supposed to sound like and has a hard time opening up to new sounds."
Mackiewicz said the orchestra showcases at least one new work each year written expressly for the group.
The orchestra's third performance of the season, "The Music of Young American Performers," took place in early March.
The event showcased the premieres of original works written by two Connecticut composers, Michael Gatonska and Katherine Jarzebowski.
"I think a lot of young people are put off by classical and romantic music," said Gatonska, an East Hartford
resident who wrote "Adventure of the Kingfisher" for the performance. "The orchestra is unique in giving newer writers
a venue to showcase their work because unless you have a university position it's usually next to impossible to achieve an opportunity like this."
Gatonska, who began as a percussionist while attending Manhattanville College for his undergraduate degree,
turned to composing after sustaining an injury to his hand. He then became familiar with the New York music scene after going
on to Manhattan School of Music and a stay at Indiana University.
But Gatonska, a Connecticut native, decided to go abroad to familiarize himself with the language and customs of his
Polish heritage and to follow his passion for eastern European music by studying at the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland.
"I ended up staying five years but the funniest thing about my trip is I found myself wanting to develop my American side,"
Gatonska said. "I love European music, but it was only part of what I wanted to do personally and professionally. I reached
a point where it wasn't comfortable writing there, attempting to duplicate what has already been done. I needed to
make something about me but relevant to our time."
Although Gatonska has developed a resume including the Chicago Symphony First Hearing Award, Minnesota Orchestra Reading
and Composer Institute Award and the Dimitri Mitropoulis International Composition Competition for his works, 18-year-old Jarzebowski
said she is focusing on exposure and creating recordings. "I started with contests and trying to jump-start my resume," said Jarzebowski,
a New York University freshman majoring in music composition. "I'm just trying to make contact with people and trying to
learn all I can from my mentors and others I admire."
Jarzebowski, who grew up in Southington, said her piece, a violin concerto, was written for her grandmother whose early
influence as a violinist inspired her interest in classical music. The musical ingenue studied with Tibor Pusztai while
in high school and was honored in the 2000 Hartford Symphony for Young Composers Competition.
Jarzebowski, who is currently studying under Marc Antonio Consoli, said in the future she would like to write movie
scores and is looking beyond to filmmaking for graduate studies.
"I am fascinated with music from a movie that can stand on its own," Jarzebowski said. "How you can close your eyes
and listen to it and not picture a scene from the film."
Gatonska echoed her statements saying today's mass-media culture has a large impact upon his work.
"The way I think about music is the way most view television," Gatonska said.
"There is a show you focus on and different commercials shown. My music has one image that lasts but also sounds that stray and change."
The concert included also Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and Johann
Christian Bach's Symphony Number 4, Opus 3 in B-flat. More information may be found at the Web site, www.thevirtuosi.org.
[Revised reprint of an article published by Megan Clair in The Herald (March 10, 2003); she can
be reached at mclair@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 223]
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