Christmas Concert and "Sylwester"

On Saturday, December 11, 2010, at 6:00 p.m. members and guests of the Modjeska Club will celebrate the holiday season with a Christmas Concert at a private mansion in Anaheim, CA.

The event will feature Polish musicians, guitarist Arek Niezgoda, violist and jazz singer Karolina Naziemiec, and Bulgarian cellist Irina Chirkova. Their short Classical Music Program will be followed by Polish Christmas Carols Sing-Along, led by Karolina, with the support lent by Arek and Irina.

The musicians will have their CDs available for purchase and their performances will be filmed for Polish TV. Our festivities will feature a buffet dinner catered by Teresa Turek, elegant Polish desserts and holiday music.

PROGRAM:

6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – Welcome

6:30 p.m. – Sharing of the Oplatek

6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Polish Dinner Buffet, catered by Teresa Turek

7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. – Festive Music for Guitar and Strings

Ludwig van Beethoven -Duet ' with two eyeglasses obligato' /10 min./, Karolina Naziemiec- viola and Irina Chirkova -cello

Arkadiusz Niezgoda – Adelita Variations on a Theme by Francisco Tarrega (2010) /20 min./

8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. - Polish Christmas Carols Sing-Along led by Karolina Naziemiec and accompanied by Arek Niezgoda and Irina Chirkova.

8:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. – Desserts

Texts for the following carols will be distributed for the audience: Wśród nocnej ciszy, Anioł pasterzom mówił, Pójdźmy wszyscy do stajenki, Przybieżeli do Betlejem, Dzisiaj w Betlejem, Triumfy Króla Niebieskiego, Gdy się Chrystus rodzi, Jezus malusieńki, Lulajże Jezuniu, Gdy śliczna panna, Oj maluśki, maluśki, W żłobie leży, Mizerna cicha, stajenka licha, Ach ubogi żłobie, Mędrcy świata, Bóg się rodzi, O come, all ye faithful, The first noel, Away in a manger, and Cicha noc.

If you bring your favorite dance music, we will be able to listen to it and pick the “greatest hits” for our New Year’s Eve Party.

PERFORMERS:

KAROLINA NAZIEMIEC is a Polish violist and vocalist who has been training, teaching and performing in the United States since 2000. Ms. Naziemiec appeared with many orchestras in Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, Japan , and USA and participated in numerous music festivals throughout the world. In the U.S., she has performed with The Los Angeles Opera, The Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, The American Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall in New York City and in Los Angeles, The Aspen Music Festival Orchestra in Aspen, and The Jewish Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles, among others. She holds a M.A. degree in viola from the famous Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. In 2008-09 she was teaching at the Idyllwild Summer Festival as viola coach. She's also performed as a vocalist in Los Angeles, and has recorded in scoring sessions at studios such as Warner Brothers, Fox, Sony and Paramount. To learn more about Ms. Naziemiec go to her website, www.karolinanaziemiec.com

ARKADIUSZ (AREK) NIEZGODA: In 1978, while his mother was pregnant with him, Arek first time heard his father practicing guitar pieces by Bach, Tarrega and other composers. When he was six years old, Niezgoda began playing piano and guitar. Arek graduated from Warsaw University’s Department of Musicology. He came to California two years ago considering Los Angeles a place where music has all the needed "liberty, sun and a great market too." As a self-taught composer and classic guitar player, Niezgoda was always worked to avoid overly academic influences. He wants to keep his compositions somewhere in-between universities and musical wilderness. This is his one of a kind musical path – that he believes leads to the undiscovered – Promised Land.

ADELITA VARIATIONS - is a set of Classic Guitar Pieces composed in 2010. The main theme is taken from Adelita - Mazurka - composed by Francisco Tarrega (21 November 1852 – 15 December 1909), an influential Spanish composer and guitarist of the Romantic period: www.tarrega-niezgoda.com

IRINA CHIRKOVA: Originally from Bulgaria, Irina came overseas in 1997 when she attended The Boston Conservatory and graduated with a BM and MM. As a performer, she won multiple competitions such an American String Teachers' Association Competition, II Prize in MA; performed multiple times as a soloist with an orchestra, one of which was her own arrangement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto adopted for two violins, a cello, two DJs and an orchestra (performed with Orchestra X, Houston, TX). Irina is an electric cellist as well. As a teacher, she was a founder of the First Cello Competition at Brookline Music School, MA, where she was a String Department Coordinator and a member of the Cello Faculty for seven years. From 2001 until 2005, she was a Teaching Assistant at Wellesley College, MA. Irina has performed multiple times as a soloist for Bill Clinton and the former Governor of MA, Mitt Romney. Some of her recent performances include performing with Kanye West and Elan Artists. She has performed for Yo-Yo Ma, Bernard Greenhouse, Aldo Parisot, Timothy Eddy, Tokyo String Quartet, Norman Fischer and Andor Toth. Currently, she is a band/group member of Novel3 Trio, Rouge ensemble, CCBONNES and the Chamber Pop. Irina is a faculty member at Santa Monica Music Center, Cornerstone Music Conservatory and Neighborhood Music School, CA.

CHAMBER POP ENSEMBLE: Arek, Karolina and Irina are members of Chamber Pop Ensemble which performs pop songs arranged for Classic Guitar/Piano and String Quartet. This crossover group involves musicians from Pop/Rock and Classic Music World. www.chamberpop.com and www.myspace.com/chamberpopensemble

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SYLWESTER - POLISH NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY

Our New Year's Eve Party will be held at the elegant Long Beach Petroleum Club (Terrace Room). There are only 12 seats left and we will open the reservations to guests on November 30. The $80 per person ticket includes: dinner with a choice of entree, two drink tickets, glass of champagne at midnight, chocolate cake for dessert, and appetizers served at night. Dinner served at 8 p.m., dancing until 1 p.m., cash bar available on site. Music will be provided by DJ Richar Mojica, who will play an assortment of favorite dance music, from ballroom, through rock, golden oldies, to salsa, including Polish dance music, and a Polonaise at midnight!

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EVENTS IN THE SPRING OF 2011

January 22, 2011, 6:30 p.m. (Saturday) - Travel to Tibet with Edward and Maria Pilatowicz, screening of film and conversations with long-time club members and past-presidents. Home of Monique and David Lehman, Pasadena.

February 19, 2011, 6:30 p.m. (Saturday) - Mickiewicz Today, conversation with Prof. Roman Koropeckyj, UCLA, Mickiewicz Scholar and Prof. Leonard Kress, Owens College, poet and translator of Pan Tadeusz into English. Illustrated with fragments of Andrzej Wajda's "Pan Tadeusz" in Polish. Conversation in English. The Ruskin Art Club, Los Angeles.

March 19, 2011, 6:30 p.m. (Saturday) - What's New in Space? Andrew Z. Dowen presents updates from NASA. Joint meeting with Polacy in Inland Empire Club. South Pasadena Public Library Historic Lecture Room, with documentary film screening.

April 16, 2011, 6:30 p.m. - Milosz in My Life, conversation with poets John Guzlowski and Cecilia Woloch, about Czeslaw Milosz, Nobel-Prize winning poet, whose year is celebrated in 2011. The Ruskin Art Club, Los Angeles.