Dear Friends, This is not a record we wish to promote—it's a limited release, a gift for those who waited for a long time for the re-issue of items that were already sold in millions of copies...My Christmas Carols...are a collection of beautiful music that can accompany you for the rest of the year. . . This record also serves as an early announcement for the upcoming release with a completely different music by Zbigniew Preisner.

Fantasie per Sei was written in 1988, commissioned by the Atlanta Virtuosi. This commission came as a result of the (successful) performance of my Music at Night by the Atlanta Symphony. The choice of instruments reflected my predilection for the sound of an unorthodox string quartet, where the second violin is replaced by the contrabass, with added oboe (one of my beloved instruments) and the piano (used here almost as an accompanying orchestra). Hence the result is many unusual sound combinations. The work has there main movements played without an intermission. These main movements have several "inner digressions," nevertheless they are thematically and harmonically interconnected. Which means here that the entire work uses almost the same musical material—the same or similar "bricks" (or cells), from which "the house" is built. The soloistic display of all instruments was also a factor for me. -S.S.

Several scores were recently donated by Alicia Jonas, a pianist, teacher and composer now residing in New York City. Her collections of piano pieces (geared especially for the young pianists) are imaginative and fun to perform. The PMC is happy to add the following items to our score library collection:

• Life at the ZOO - Music and Poems by Alicia Jonas [for piano, 4-hands]
  Published by Zen-On Music Company, Ltd.
• Sonatina in Three Movements (2000) [for piano]
  Published by Wydawnictwo Muzyczne CONTRA
• Piano Mirage/Fortepianowe Miraże [for piano]
  Published by Wydawnictwo Muzyczne CONTRA
• Christmas Carols for 4 Hands / Kolędy na 4 ręce [for piano]
  Published by Wydawnictwo Muzyczne CONTRA
• Winter/Zima [for string orchestra]
  Published by Wydawnictwo Muzyczne CONTRA

Piano Magic, 30 Solo Pieces for Piano by Alicia Jonas, includes the pieces the composer made up during her students' lessons. . . These little pieces can be played by any beginner. Rhythmic concepts, a variety of articulations, dynamics, and a wide range of the piano are included, along with charming titles and simple ink illustrations. (Beethoven House Music, 877-633-8656; $14.)

Life at the Zoo, Piano 4-Hands, by Alicia Jonas. The first part of the collection focuses on rote learning... The pieces convey brief impressions of a zoo; they are not developmental in the traditional sense. The second part of the book encourages improvisation by having students make up endings for the primo part, with the help of a few guiding remarks from the composer... There are colorful drawings throughout the book. (Beethoven House Music, 877-633-8656, $16.)

• The F. Chopin Society in Warsaw will be presenting piano recitals by Jerzy Sterczynski in Żelazowa Wola and by Karol Radziwonowicz at Ostrogski Castle in Warsaw.
• An anniversary concert featuring three distinguished Polish instrumentalists—pianist Krzysztof Jablonski, cellist Tomasz Strahl and violinist Konstanty Andrzej Kulka—is held at the F. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw on February 23rd.
• On February 24th young pianists—Rafał Blechacz, winner of the Piano Competition in Hamamatsu in 2003, and Maria Gabrys, laureate of the 3rd prize at the International F. Chopin Piano Competition in Marienbad—pay a musical tribute to the composer at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. The pianists are accompanied by the string quintet I Solisti di Varsavia.
• On February 27th tenor Wojciech Maciejowski, accompanied by pianist Laura Sobolewska, gives a recital at Radziwiłł Hunting Palace in Antonin.
• A special recital by an eminent pianist from Vietnam, Dang Thai Son, will be held on March 1st at the National Philharmonic. The recital is organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and the National Philharmonic.

Born in Łódz on 6 July 1929, Miłosz Magin showed considerable musical abilities since his early childhood. He was a prodigious virtuoso of the piano, but his performing career was curtailed due to a broken wrist in 1963, at which time he turned his focus to his earlier love of composition. Magin also became a sought after teacher. In 1985, he and his wife, also a pianist, founded the International Piano Competition - Miłosz Magin. Devoted to the discovery of young international talents and to the promotion of Polish music, this competition takes place every two years in Paris with an increasing notoriety.

The Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition was established in 1949, in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Frederic Chopin. The inauguration took place at the Kosciuszko Foundation House in New York City, with Witold Malcuzyński as guest artist, and Abram Chasins, composer and music director of the New York Times Radio Stations, presiding. Over the years, many outstanding musicians have been associated with the competition including Van Cliburn, Ian Hobson, and Murray Perahia. Today the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition continues to encourage gifted young pianists to further their studies, and to perform the works of Polish composers.

• Key string performers and teachers, both past and present, including chamber musicians as well as soloists
• String music (classical, folk, jazz) to come out of Poland
• Distinguishing characteristics of the Poland's 'school' of string playing
• Leading orchestras and educational establishments
• Key musical developments that have affected the string world (in jazz and folk music, as well as classical)
• How political development has affected the musical life of Poland over the last 100 years, particularly the fall of communism

Juliusz Zarębski's talent failed to develop fully because of the composer's short life; that he was attaining to individuality and independence in the use of the sound techniques and the expression evoked in his compositions can only be seen in his last works. The high level of Zarębski's work ensures him, however—in the Polish perspective—the position of the most outstanding post-Chopinesque composer, owing to whom one can find in the Polish music of the 2nd half of the 19th century references to the stylistic and aesthetic tendencies considered as innovative at that time. And albeit the reception of his works was rather superficial in Poland, it was in fact due to his creative output that one can speak about any continuity between Chopin's work and the artistic achievements of Mieczysław Karłowicz and Karol Szymanowski occurring in the early 1900s. [R.D. Golianek]

The event's finale, traditionally held at the lodge on Szyndzielnia mountain, will feature the Polish-Ukrainian formation Riverboat Ramblers. This group plays both the great standards of Swing, Dixie Land and New Orleans jazz, as well as Bossa Nova, varied Latin American music and great Russian traditional tunes.

A competition addressed to young musicians who have yet to make their recording debut is another important element of the Bielsko Jazz Blizzard. Those who emerge victorious from the competition get an opportunity to record and release their first album. Traditionally, the Blizzard will include a vast exhibition of photographs portraying musicians who appeared at previous editions of the event. This year's festival will also include an exhibit titled "This Is Jazz", consisting of Andrzej Karewicz's photographs of the some of the world's top jazz stars.

Kwiecien singing Malatesta in Seattle Opera's Don Pasquale
©2003 Chris Bennion Photo

Wanda ZUKOWSKA's charismatic appeal and accomplished musicianship crosses many boundaries. She started composing in her early childhood. At thirteen she presented her first three-movement, fully orchestrated, symphonic composition and a few years later was the leader of a jazz ensemble. She is now popularly known as VANDDI.

What has really made her music popular to millions is her song-writing. Several of her songs were voted "Song of the Year" or received Top Ten rankings overseas, and many won major awards at international song competitions and festivals. Songs like "The Star Over You "("Gwiazda Nad Toba") or "Just Invite Me to The Dance "("Tylko Mnie Popros do Tanca") recorded by Anna Jantar, undeniably one of Vanddi's most beautiful tunes became the evergreens of pop music market in Europe and continue being re-recorded by new artists after more than a decade of popularity. Vanddi frequently tours the US and Canada while working with recording artists, often composing and producing in her music studio in Westchester County, NY.

In her solo-piano program titled "Pianothoughts" the audience experiences all new, live improvisations at every performance ( studio-recorded version available on CD). Vanddi's piano style goes far beyond jazz and classical idiom.