 | Polish Music Newsletter |
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February 2006, Vol. 12, No. 2. ISSN 1098-9188. Published monthly. Los Angeles: Polish Music Center, University of Southern California
Anniversaries |
Awards |
Calendar of Events |
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Polish Music Center USC 840 W. 34th St. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0851
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NOSPR is already involved in one of the Symphonet's projects. Within a year, a newly commissioned piece by Mikołaj Górecki (son of Maestro Henryk Mikołaj Górecki) will be completed and incorporated into the repertoire of all the six orchestras. NOSPR will also present works commissioned by the other members of the network. The networking of multiple orchestras allows the institutions to cut cost on larger events and also gather grant money from the European Union.
Between February 3rd and 18th, Radio France presents the 16th edition of "Présences—Festival de Création Musicale." This year the festival will feature the music of Polish composer, Krzysztof Penderecki, marking the first time that all of his works will be presented collectively in public. During the inaugural concert the audience will hear the 8th Symphony: Lieder der Vergänglichkeit in its latest 2005 version, conducted by the composer himself.
These concerts are presented free of charge. All of the concerts will take place in the Maison de Radio France, with the exception of the concert featuring The Seven Gates of Jerusalem, performed on February 10th in the Église de la Madeleine. For more information visit the Radio France web site at: www.radio-france.fr.
On February 4th, the University of Washington Polish Studies Endowment Committee Distinguished Speakers Series presents eminent Polish composer and Oscar winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, discussing "Music without Borders." In his talk, Mr. Kaczmarek will discuss the significance of film music as well as his own artistic journey, from the avant-garde Polish theatre to the Academy Award in 2005. He will also present his new work, Cantata for Freedom, which was composed for the 25th anniversary of the Polish Solidarity movement. Mr. Kaczmarek will be introduced by an expert in film music, Prof. Claudia Gorbman.
Before he became an internationally renowned musician, Mr. Kaczmarek toured with his own orchestra and recorded albums in Europe and the US, composed for theatres in Chicago and New York, and worked on music scores for films. He achieved recognition as a film composer with scores for Total Eclipse, Bliss, Washington Square, Unfaithful, and—most importantly—for Finding Neverland, which earned him his first Oscar in 2005. He was also nominated for the Golden Globe and BAFTA's award for Achievement in Film Music, and won the National Review Board's award for Best Score of the Year. Inspired by the Sundance Institute, Mr. Kaczmarek is setting up Instytut Rozbitek in Poland to serve as a European center for the development of new productions in film, theatre, music and new media (www.rozbitek.org). The University of Washington Polish Studies Endowment Committee lectures series is part of a larger effort to create a Polish Studies Center, which would serve students as well as the whole community, increasing knowledge and understanding of historical and contemporary Poland.
Mr. Kaczmarek's lecture is free and open to the public.
 The Paderewski Trio will perform a concert on Sunday, February 5 at 3 PM. The program includes works of Robert Volkmann, a friend and contemporary of Schumann, and contemporary American composer Paul Schoenfield. Featured is the tango-based "Four Seasons" of Astor Piazzola.
An acknowledged leader in the field of new music, the Verdehr Trio has concentrated on works for their unusual violin-clarinet-piano ensemble for over thirty years. During this time, the Trio has created a large repertoire by commissioning over 160 new works from some of the world's most prominent and exciting composers, known and unknown, young and old, from this country and abroad. To round out its repertoire with Classical and Romantic works, the Trio has rediscovered as well as transcribed 18th and 19th century pieces for inclusion in its concert programs.
 Members of the Verdehr Trio are Walter Verdehr, violin, Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, clarinet, and Silvia Roederer, piano. The group is in residence at Michigan State University. Their website is www.verdehr.com.
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Tickets are $20 for the Paderewski Trio concert and $25 for the Verdehr Trio, including a reception and discussion with the artists after the concert. You can reserve your place by calling (212) 734-2130.
PWM Edition has announced the subject for this year's 4th Annual Ochlewski Composition Competition. The instrument is trumpet and the competition is open to Polish citizens under 30 years of age. The works have to be in before April 30, 2006. For detailed regulations and information please visit: www.pwm.com.pl.
February 8th through 11th, 2006
Adam Makowicz is an internationally acclaimed jazz piano virtuoso who has dazzled audiences throughout the world with his touch, articulation, and rich harmonic textures. Recently returned from a three-month European tour, Makowicz teams up again with two exceptional artists whom he has performed and recorded with before—George Mraz on bass and Al Foster on drums—for four nights at New York's legendary jazz club Birdland, which took its name from Charlie "Birdyard" Parker, the opening-night headliner when the club was launched in 1949. Performing in trio, Makowicz will offer both American standards and original compositions from his two solo-piano CDs: Songs from Manhattan and his newly released From My Field.
Born to Polish parents in Czechoslovakia and raised in Poland from the age of six, Adam was being trained to fulfill his parents' wish that he become a classical pianist when, at 16, he discovered jazz on Willis Conover's "Music USA Jazz Hour" on the Voice of America—at a time in early fifties' Stalinist Poland when jazz was officially regarded as decadent and subversive. Thrilled by the freedom of improvisation in the work of jazz piano greats like Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, and Earl Fatha Hines, Adam realized that jazz was his calling. But he faced obstacles of a kind that his counterparts in Western Europe, for example, did not. When he was forbidden to play jazz not only by his parents but also by his music school, Adam ran away from home and went to Krakow. For a couple of years he lived mostly on the streets, usually hungry, sleeping at the railroad station in winter and on park benches in the summer. Occasionally a friend would hear of an empty dormitory bed, or spare him a couple of food vouchers. But his main goal was to find any and every available moment at some unused piano. There were no jazz teachers, no tape recorders, and no recordings except those smuggled in from the West. So Adam and his friends had to learn jazz by remembering what they heard on the radio. As restrictions were loosened following the death of Stalin, Adam could sometimes earn pocket money doing gigs in bars. Eventually, Adam found a semi-clandestine cellar jazz club where, in return for doing chores, he was allowed to practice on the piano and sleep underneath it. His long hours spent at the keyboard soon paid off and he formed a group that performed nightly at the club. Adam dates his professional career from 1964, when a quartet he had helped form, "The Jazz Darings," won first prize at a jazz group competition in Poland. Soon thereafter he launched the Adam Makowicz Trio, performing in Poland, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Cuba. His first solo album was Live Embers in 1975. Adam Makowicz could already be heard on 26 albums, had performed on three continents, and been voted Number One Jazz Pianist of Europe six years in a row by the readers of Jazz Forum, when legendary record producer John Hammond invited him to New York in 1977 for a 10-week engagement at "The Cookery" and a solo album, Adam, for CBS Columbia Records. Makowicz went on to perform at Carnegie Hall with Earl Hines, George Shearing, and Teddy Wilson. In 1978 he settled in New York City and was banned from Poland until it regained its freedom in 1989. The Toronto Star called Makowicz "a rare artist who grips and holds attention.... A gifted improviser with splendid technical prowess, the pianist can also offer warmth and affection in melodic lines, the balance of fine taste, pungent swing and a jubilant approach inevitably generating audience cheer." A major attraction at jazz festivals worldwide, and a popular soloist with many of the world's leading philharmonic orchestras, especially in his native Poland, Adam Makowicz has expanded his discography to 53 albums, with 37 of them under his own name. In addition to his brilliant improvisations on Berlin, Gershwin, Ellington, Bernstein and other composers, he brings his extraordinary technical virtuosity to bear upon his own musical roots, building bridges between classical music and jazz, as in the CD, Reflections on Chopin, and his original compositions in both Songs for Manhattan, released on his own label (AM Records) in October, 2003, and his latest release, From My Field (2005). For more on Adam's career, concerts abroad, and discography, visit his website at www.west.net/~jazz/. This article was reprinted from www.polishculture-nyc.org.
The Constitutional Congress of the IJF held in March 1969 in Venice, Italy elected Vienna, Austria as its seat and the English edition of JAZZ FORUM magazine (published in Warsaw, Poland) as the official mouthpiece of the organization. As Secretary General and head of the organization I had the privilege of running the IJF office in Vienna from January 1972 to May 1979. In May, 1977 I went to New York City to establish the IJF's Branch Office in America. Located at the Ed Sullivan Theater Building on Broadway and 53rd St., IJF was incorporated with John Lewis as president, and Willis Conover and John Hammond as vice-presidents of the Board. Its membership list swelled to include dozens of prominent musicians, such as Dave Brubeck, Benny Carter, Reggie Workman, Dave Liebman, Paul Blay, Howard McGhee, Andrew White, Dorothy Donegan, Andrew Cyrille, Harold Ousley, Illinois Jacquet, Helen Merrill, Maurice Waller, Lou Donaldson, Leon Thomas, Lucky Thompson, Gene Perla, and Ted Cursonto name just a few. After a successful and promising start though, disaster came from an unexpected, but not altogether uncommon place—The Communist Authorities in Warsaw, Poland. They refused to renew my passport in New York, making it impossible for me to travel to Europe to attend IJF Board Meetings and later, the General Assembly in Yugoslavia in 1999. Absent, I could not be re-elected as Secretary General. Soon after, without so much as a reason or explanation I lost my post as Editor-in-Chief of Jazz Forum, which I founded in Warsaw in 1966. The IJF with a new Board became a different organization. The headquarters moved from Vienna to Denmark, to London. Activity diminished, coming finally to a standstill. Now, in 2006 everything has changed. What was difficult and impossible then is now alive and possible. There is the European Union, the Internet and Open Market. Yet for the jazz artists, problems remain much the same as thirty years ago. They need a large AUDIENCE and direct access to the jazz industry.
Taking into consideration new realities, the following question is alive and open to all interested in the international jazz scene: I believe it is and would be a complement to the common policies across the EU. I invite all to share their comments on the project. The results will be distributed in the next IJF Newsletter. I wish you every success in 2006.
Jan Byrczek
"Early Music - persona grata" festivalThe 8th season of this festival will start on the 9th of February. This festival was created and is produced by the Arte dei Suonatori orchestra. The year's festival features Handel's Concerti Grossi, Op. 6, and includes almost thirty concerts. The Arte dei Suonatori orchestra will be led by conductor Martin Gester in the four planned performances in Kliczków, Poznań, Toruń and Wrocław.
The 100 young musicians are selected based on their applications and teacher recommendations, and will study with Maestro Piotr Gajewski, National Philharmonic musicians, and other distinguished faculty. Each week concludes with performances by the student orchestra and student chamber ensembles.
Institute activities include: The two weeks of Institutes are followed by the National Philharmonic Summer Chamber Music Festival, which features performances by the Institutes' faculty members, other National Philharmonic musicians, and guest artists. Attendance at these concerts is free for Institute participants through the ALL KIDS, ALL FREE, ALL THE TIME program. To learn more or request an application, contact National Philharmonic Education Director Filbert Hong at filbert@nationalphilharmonic.org. In 2005, applications were available in January and the deadline was March 31. A limited number of merit-based scholarships are available. |
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Deutsche Grammophon picked-up the "Best Concertos" category award with The Complete Concertos by Bartók interpreted by Krystian Zimerman (pictured at right), Leif Ove Andsnes, Hélčne Grimaud and conducted by Pierre Boulez. For more winners go to: www.midem.com.
The young pianist and winner of the XV Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Rafał Blechacz, was given the 2006 Passport Award in the category of music. The awards are given by the Polish periodical, Polityka, in different areas of social life. In other categories, the winners are: Jan Klata - theater, Marek Krajewski - literature, Przemysław Wojcieszek - motion picture, Robert Kuśmirowski - visual arts and Duet Skalpel - theater. The winners were announced at the Gala in the Polish Theater in Warsaw on the 10th of January 2006.
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Penderecki's Credo credits: 
Górecki's "3rd Symphony" credits: 
Kilar's "Missa pro pace" credits: 
There is a new album by Włodek Pawlik, the "Horowitz of Jazz". The album, entitled Anhelli, will be released in Poland on the 9th of February, 2006 on ARMS Records. On the same day Pawlik and his band will perform at the National Philharmonic. For detailed information and a chance to hear music from the album, visit 
On January 8th, 2006, at the 
One of Poland's most talented violinists of the younger generation, Patrycja Piekutowska, performed two recitals devoted to Polish 20th-century violin music with pianist Johnathan Yates at Bargemusic. Program: Karol Szymanowski - Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 9; Krzysztof Penderecki - Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, Miniatures for Violin and Piano, Cadenza for Violin Solo; Witold Lutosławski - Partita for Violin; and Grażyna Bacewicz - Sonata No. 4.
David Lynch (pictured at right, CAMERIMAGE Festival 2003) has been a great fan of the city of Łódź ever since his first visit there several years ago. The unique spirit and architecture of this working-class metropolis, located right in the middle of Poland and once famous for its textile mills, had fascinated this celebrated American film director.
Historically, Łódź was the cradle of modern film industry in Poland. Polański, Wajda, Skolimowski, Kieślowski, and scores of other great filmmakers have come from the legendary Łódź film school. Since the year 2000, Łódź has hosted the 