Friday, December 28, 2018

January 12, 2019 - Monique Lehman and Marek Dzida at Hellada Gallery in Long Beach

We cordially invite Modjeska Club members and friends to the first club meeting of 2019 with prominent artist Monique Lehman Chmielewski and the owner of the Hellada Gallery, Marek Dzida. It will take place on January 12, 2019 at 6:00 pm, at the Hellada Gallery, 117 Linden Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802. The number of places is limited, first come, first serve, so please RSVP to VP Witold Sokolowski by January 8, 2019 at witold.sokolowski@modjeska.org.

 Monique Lehman is the creator of fascinating fiber art, with original aesthetics and a great technique. Her works have been exhibited in solo shows and large exhibitions around the world, most recently in China, Uruguay and the Ukraine. They are also found in many collections of important museums and American, Polish and Chinese institutions. In the Hellada Gallery, we will hear about her creative ideals and we will see selected works. For many years, Marek Dzida has run the Hellada Gallery, where he holds lectures on the reception and creation of fine arts and presents many exhibitions. The theme of his presentation in Hellada will be "The Art of Seeing."

Save the dates for the next meetings: 3 February (Duet Piramidy from Poland at Playa Vista), 17 February (Writer Magdalena Gorzalkowska in West Hills) and 17 March (Krzysztof Dzikowski and Wiktoria Tracz at South Pasadena Library).


MONIQUE CHMIELEWSKI LEHMAN

Lehman weaves a portrait of her father comic-book creater Mr. Chmielewski

A native of Warsaw, Poland and a graduate of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, Monique Lehman is an accomplished and original tapestry artist whose work may be found in museum collections around the world (the Vatican, Long Beach Museum of Art, Central Museum of Textiles in Lodz, Poland and the Space Museum in Cape Canaveral, FL), as well as in many American public buildings, city halls, churches, hospitals and synagogues. Her creative output continues the centuries of development of unique fiber art tradition, previously unknown in America and created exclusively by Polish artists.  

Lehman in China with a poster based on her self-portrait tapestry

Monique Chmielewski came from Poland to USA in 1978 invited by an American artist to teach at her studio in California. When the Pope John Paul II visited Chicago, Monique greeted him by presenting his portrait she wove as a 6’ x 4’ tapestry. Since the American TV showed this event on the news, the public learned about the Polish tapestry school.

Working on a tapestry at home

Monique was invited to lecture about art and soon Polish tapestries became desirable objects for American collectors. Ms. Lehman, a member of Zwiazek Polskich Artystow Plastykow, shares her time between exhibiting, working on large commissions, and organizing art shows for artists from China in Poland and Polish artists in American and China museums. She is a real ambassador of Polish Fiber Art. Her knowledge of languages and cultures help her to promote Polish art in Asia and the Americas. This year she was invited as a special guest to World Textile Art in Uruguay and Biennale of Art in Karachi, Pakistan.

Fragment of award-winning Chopin Cape by Lehman

Monique’s accomplishment is bringing European visual criteria to America and China, as well as sharing Polish culture. Her monumental tapestries such as the parochet for Temple Beth El, La Jolla, CA, or the Portrait of St. Francis, typically take several years to complete. The large-scale works created on commission are just one side of her creative talent. She also developed an original style of abstract tapestries, that are three dimensional, may change shapes, and have a rich palette of colors and textures to express their themes.  

With large tapestry at Pasadena City College

Since 2010, she participated in 29 prominent international exhibitions on four continents (Asia, North and South America and Europe), including exhibitions held in: Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada; Oaxaca, Mexico; Beijing and other cities in China; the Lodz Triennale, and many other exhibitions in Poland (Bytom, Czestochowa, Gdynia and so forth), as well as Long Beach, Palos Verdes, Ontario, and Pasadena in California. She was recently invited to show her fiber art as a solo artist in Montevideo, Uruguay, during the WTA Conference in October 2017, and will hold a Retrospective Exhibition in the Museum of Textiles in Beijing, China, in the following year. 

Lehman with her Rain Forest tapestry

She promotes tapestry art by organizing international shows in Europe, China and the U.S. One of her internationally exhibited projects with contributions by 100 artists from 20 countries was the Memorial Tapestry commemorating the victims of 9/11. Monique’s goal was to promote polish art not only in the USA but internationally. The artist participated in many Contemporary International Fiber Art Exhibitions and served as a jury member since 2006. For her achievements in the field of fiber arts, Monique Lehman received an honorary degree of Professor from Zibo Vocational Institute, in the city of Zibo, Shandong Province, China. She included many Polish artists in the largest Fiber Art show in Asia,“From Lausanne to Beijing.” She is a judge of this show and invited eminent Polish professors to join her in selecting the work for display. 



Working on the tapestry for La Jolla Temple Beth El.

Her unique passion is Wearable Art. In February 2017, she received a prize for her artwork at the International Exhibition of Wearable Art in Palos Verdes, Monique promotes this type of art which was first invented by Polish art students, who could not buy fashionable or original clothes in the 1970s so they made their own. Her biography will be available for purchase and signing during this event.


MAREK DZIDA - ARTIST, GALLERY OWNER

Born and raised in Poland, Dzida emigrated to the US in 1990. His European education includes high school and university in the subjects of high mathematics, chemistry, electronics, film and visual art. In the U.S. he received a college degree at the LBCC, Long Beach, in the profession of Photography. Since 1996, the owner of Hellada Gallery, presently located on 117 Linden Ave. Since 1998, he has been the manager and organizer of the 2nd Saturday Art Walk in Long Beach, an art fair on Linden Ave. Since 2000, he has been organizing the annual photography exhibition, Exposure. From 2012 to 2016 he has served on the board of director of (CALB) Cultural Alliance Long Beach.

Dzida is active as a community leader and art activist. The growth of Downtown Long Beach is very important for Marek’s personal and professional adventures. Working with the community in shaping the future of Long Beach would be a creative concept, which will enrich everyone.

As a photographer, he has worked with many subjects in the task of illustrating all personal resources and inspirations in the artistic process: from discoveries in natural environment to explorations in human behaviors through all possible interactions between the two. Art-works consist of silver prints on paper created through traditional Black & White photography techniques.    

Monday, December 17, 2018

Jadwiga Baranska Receives 2018 Modjeska Prize from Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club




The Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club presented the Helena Modjeska Prize 2018 to the distinguished Polish actress, Jadwiga Barańska on December 15, 2018.  The presentation took place at the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga CA (7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042) during the annual Christmas Caroling party of the club, featuring soprano Teresa Kubiak and pianist Wojciech Kocyan in a mini-recital of Polish carols. The laureate declined the request to be the sole focus of a separate celebration. 


Maja Trochimczyk Presents the Award to Jadwiga Baranska

The Modjeska Club established an annual award for lifetime achievement in the field of acting, "The Modjeska Prize" in 2010, to commemorate its patron Helena Modjeska (1840-1909), a noted Shakespearean actress and an emigre to America,  and honor the achievements of outstanding artists of the Polish stage and screen. In 2011, the award was given ex aequo to actors Anna Dymna and Marian Dziędziel. In 2012, the winner was Barbara Krafftówna, and in 2013 the award was presented to Ryszard Bugajski, after which the Modjeska Prize program was suspended until 2018.


Jadwiga Barańska, actress and screenwriter, is a graduate of the Theater Academy in Łódź, Poland. A prominent actress with numerous leading parts in Warsaw theatres in plays from the classical and contemporary repertoires, she also played dozens of roles on Polish TV. Among the most important of her theater roles are Laura in The Glass Menagerie by T. Williams, Masha in The Three Sisters by A. Chekhov, Lavinia in Mourning Becomes Electra by O'Neil, and Joanna in Skylark by Anhouil.  Her two most important film roles are: Countess Cosel in the film of the same name (Countess Cosel) as well as the lead role of Barbara Niechcic in Nights and Days, an epic movie that was nominated for an Academy Award in 1976.

Jadwiga Baranska with Modjeska Prize, photo by Jadwiga Inglis

In 1977, the Polish actress starred in American film, The Widows’ Nest. In 1979, Jadwiga Barańska came to the U.S. with her family. Since 1993, she has worked as a screenwriter with the following credits: The Lady of the Camellias (1994, screenplay by Barańska, directed by Jerzy Antczak), as well as Path of Glory by Humphrey Cobb and Caesar and Pompey directed by Jerzy Antczak. In the award-winning film Chopin - Desire for Love, by Jerzy Antczak, Jadwiga Barańska shared the writer's credits, was an associate director, and starred as Justyna Chopin, Frédéric Chopin's mother.

Award presentation. L to R: Witold Sokolowski, VP, Jadwiga Baranska, Maja Trochimczyk, Ewa Barsam.

For her artistic achievements she received numerous Polish and international awards.  In 1975 Jadwiga. Barańska was the recipient of the Golden Cross of Achievement for 30 years of working in Polish cinema and Grand Prix for Barbara from Nights and Days from the Polish Feature Films Festival in Gdańsk.  In 1976 she was awarded Golden Grapes for Barbara at the Łagów Festival in Poland; Silver Bear (Grand Prix) from the 26th West Berlin Festival of Feature Films and Golden Apsara for Countess Cosel, at the first Festival of Feature Films at Phenom Phen. 

Jadwiga Baranska with son Michal and Maja Trochimczyk, October 20 Concert, Beverly Hills

The role of Barbara in Night and Days was also recognized by The First Degree Award from the Polish Radio and Television; The Golden Screen (the Polish  Emmy Award), the State Award of First Degree, and The Golden Nail of Season (the greatest personality, 1977). The next year she appeared on the list of 10 Best Actresses in the 35 years of Polish films. She also won the title of the Best Actress of the Year four times and was recognized by the Polish government with the Gold Gloria Artist medal for cultural achievements (Medal Zasłużony Kulturze Gloria Artis, 2008). In 1999, she was asked to make an imprint of her palm at the Promenade of Stars in Międzyzdroje, Poland.

Baranska in the film "Nights and Days"


Baranska and Jerzy Binczycki in the film "Nights and Days"

The awards continued in this decade: Złota  Sowa  Polonii  (Polonia’s Golden Owl) for her film roles (2015),  Diamentowe  Lwy (Diamond Lions) for the best female role as Barbara  Niechcic  in the film  Nights and Days, at the 40th  Polish Film Festival in Gdynia (2015); and the title of the Mistrzyni Mowy  Polskiej  Vox  Populi (Mistress of the Polish Language - Popular Vote) bestowed in 2016.  In 2018, the film Night and Days (Noce i Dnie) has been voted the best Polish film of the past 100 years, by audiences in Poland. Dolnośląskie Centrum Filmowe:  http://festiwalwolnosci.pl/plebiscyt/


At the December 15 event, Ms. Baranska not only graciously accepted the Modjeska Prize, but also made a personal donation (with her husband, famous film director Jerzy Antczak) to further the cause of promotion of Polish culture in Los Angeles.  Established in 2010, the Modjeska Prize honors the most eminent Polish actors and commemorates the patron of the Modjeska Club, actress Helena Modrzejewska (Modjeska, 1840-1909). Previous Modjeska Prize recipients include Jan Nowicki, Barbara Krafftówna and Anna Dymna.  The proceedings were filmed and Jadwiga Baranska gave an interview, for Margo Schulz, alas the materials were lost and the interview never aired.

Margo Schulz interviews Jadwiga Baranska



Jadwiga Baranska with the newest Club members Jola Budny, Katarzyna Ligwinska, Katarzyna Smiechowicz and Violetta Saleba.

Jadwiga Baranska, Maja Trochimczyk, president with newest Club Members: Jola Budny, Viola Saleba, Kasia Ligwinska, Kasia Smiechowicz

Katarzyna Smiechowicz, Jerzy Antczak, Jadwiga Baranska at theMcGroarty Arts Center.

The Award Presentation took place during the Annual Christmas Carols Party of the Club that also featured world-famous soprano Teresa Kubiak accompanied by equally famous pianist Wojciech Kocyan in a mini-recital of Christmas Carols, a holiday potluck of Polish cuisine and a sing-along of Polish carols.The event also included presentation of the newest members of the Modjeska Club admitted in the  previous six months, including actresses Aleksandra Kaniak and Katarzyna Smiechowicz Leconte with Dominik, pianist Wojciech Kocyan, publicists Syl Ves, Urszula Jaskolka Beaudoin, and young Polonia representatives Jolanta Budny, Marcin and Agnieszka Depinski, Sylwia Wilk, Bart Wojtyla and Izabella Lowtrip.

L to R: New Members with the President: Syl Wes, Urszula Jaskolka Beaudoin, Jolanta Budny, Wojciech Kocyan, Aleksandra Kaniak,Maja Trochimczyk, Katarzyna Smiechowicz, Agnieszka Depinska, Marcin Depinski with Adam, Sylwia Wilk and Izabella Lowtrip. 





Wojciech Kocyan and Teresa Kubiak perform carols.

Malgorzata Schulz, Maja Trochimczyk, singers Katarzyna Sadej and Teresa Kubiak


Best wishes for a healthy  and peaceful holiday season, and have a Happy New Year! 

From the Board of Directors of the Modjeska Club

L to R: Witold Sokolowski, Elzbieta Trybus, Ela Przybyla, Wanda Presburger, 
Consul Jaroslaw Lasinski, Ewa Barsam, Maja Trochimczyk, Chris Justin









Saturday, November 24, 2018

Christmas Carols with Kubiak and Kocyan - McGroarty Arts Center, 12/15/2018 and PNF Grant Information


Caroling with Teresa Kubiak and Wojciech Kocyan - Christmas Party, December 15, 2018

Helena Modjeska Art an Culture Club will have its annual Christmas party, to share the traditional opłatek, Polish dishes, and carols at the charming mountain-style villa of the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga (7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042), on Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 6: 00 in the evening.


The program of our last event this year will celebrate Polish holiday traditions: after sharing the opłatek with best wishes, we will have a dinner buffet, for which we ask all members to bring homemade dishes (according to the proposed menu), and favorite beverages. We will welcome the newest members of the club that include several celebrities!

Caroling will start with a group of children in Kraków costumes (one carol). The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of three Christmas carols by the world-famous soprano Teresa Kubiak, who for 14 years was a star at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She will be accompanied by a world-renowned pianist, Prof. Wojciech Kocyan (bios attached). Then, all club members willhave a chance of participating in a singalong of Polish carols. Our songbook has 20 texts!

This event is for Club members and their personal guests.



TERESA KUBIAK

A soprano, Teresa Kubiak made her American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1970 and performed operatic engagements throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle and Far East.  She sang with the Metropolitan Opera for 14 years and has performed in London's Royal Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, Paris, Munich, Rome, Bulgaria, Russia, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Warsaw, Prague, Korea, China, Kuwait, Jordan and the Philippines.

Teresa Kubiak has appeared with the world's major orchestras and conductors, including the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Munich Symphony, Puerto Rico Casals Festival, Ravinia, Chicago Symphony, Krakow, Katowice and the Lodz, Glyndebourne Festival.  She is the winner of five national and international vocal competitions and teaches master classes throughout Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and New Zealand. She has recorded for Decca, EMI, BBC, Argo, Mondo Italy and Polish Muza.


While regretting that Kubiak did not make even more recordings to preserve her magnificent talent, music critic Erik Eriksson thus summarized her career: “she used her rounded, soft-edged (but steel-cored) instrument [i.e. voice] to complement her shrewd characterizations in the Russian, Italian, German, and English languages, as well as for exemplary performances of songs and operas in her native Polish  Kubiak won the respect of many of the world's leading conductors and enjoyed a significant career in America, as well as in Europe.”


Teresa Kubiak was involved in judging many national and international competitions and is listed in the International Who's Who of Music and Musicians, Who's Who in American Women, Annals of Metropolitan Opera and Who's Who in Opera.  In 2005, she was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from the Music Academy of Łódź, Poland, her alma mater.  In 2012 Teresa Kubiak, was awarded the Medal Fides Et Ratio (Medal of Faith and Reason) by the Warsaw University Association, Warsaw, Poland. The award—in recognition of artistic achievements, the celebration of Poland, and the promotion of good and beauty in the world—was presented by the Reverend Cardinal Joseph Glemp at the Warsaw St. John the Baptist Basilica on March 11.

For the last 25 years, Teresa Kubiak was a professor of music/voice at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and officially retired in 2018. Teresa Kubiak has been married for over 50 years to her wonderful husband Janusz Kubiak, who is also an accomplished concert cellist.  She was blessed with two daughters, Margaret Kubiak who lives in Los Angeles, and Dorota Kubiak who unfortunately passed away a few years ago.

WOJCIECH KOCYAN

Pianist Wojciech Kocyan was praised for his “highly distinctive performances (…) superb, intelligent artistry (…)” (.Classics Today.com) and “incisive temperament, impeccable technique and sumptuous tone” (Le  Monde de la Musique.)

He is a laureate of several international piano competitions, including F.Busoni and Viotti, as well as a special prizes winner of the XI International Chopin Competition and a First Prize winner of the Paderewski Piano Competition.  He performed in Europe, America, Mexico, Australia and Japan, participating in such music festivals as Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis, Capri Festival, Bydgoszcz International Music Festival, H.M.Gorecki Festival, Beethovenfest, Paderewski Festival, Liszt Festival in Vienna, San Francisco Liszt Festival, Cervantino International Music Festival, Morelia International Music Festival and the Chopin Festival in Paris.  He has recorded for television, radio and film and his performances were broadcast in Europe, United States and Australia.  His solo and chamber music recordings can also be found on DUX, Naxos and Spotify. His latest CD, of works of Robert Schumann, was released by DUX in 2012.

Kocyan performs at Modjeska Club event in 2011 at Bowers Museum

In 2007 the Gramophone magazine, published in London and considered the world’s most prestigious classical music journal, called him “a genius…  stands ground alongside Pollini, Ashkenazy and Richter" and chose Mr. Kocyan’s recording of Prokofiev, Scriabin and Rachmaninoff as one of 50 best classical recordings ever made, alongside recordings of such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau, Nicolaus Harnoncourt and Arthur Rubinstein.

Dr. Kocyan is a Full Clinical Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence at Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is also active as an adjudicator, lecturer, scholar and arts administrator. He is regularly invited to judge music competitions at the local, state-wide and international levels. He has given masterclasses and lectures in France, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Japan, Mexico and United States, . He twice presented lectures and masterclasses at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference.  In 2015 he presented masterclasses at the World Piano Conference in Serbia and was appointed the judge of the World Piano Competition.

Maja Trochimczyk, Jane Kaczmarek and Wojciech Kocyan, 2011

In October 2017 he was one of five eminent international speakers invited to lecture at the international musicological conference “Competition or music put to the test”, organized by the Chopin Institute in Warsaw in conjunction with the 17thInternational Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. His paper on the evolution of the performance style in the history of the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw was included in the inaugural issue of the “Chopin Review”, a leading publication in Chopin scholarship, published by the National Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland. He also presented at the Music Teachers Association National Conference in Orlando, Florida.

He serves as the Artistic Director and President of the Paderewski Music Society in Los Angeles and the Director of the American International Paderewski Piano Competition in Los Angeles. He is also the President of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers, Santa Monica/South Bay Chapter and serves on boards of several artistic organizations."





THANKSGIVING WISHES

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Modjeska Club Board, I would like to wish you all a peaceful, healthy and happy Thanksgiving. This is not a holiday that you could have found in the Polish calendar - the nearest to this idea is probably the Harvest Festival (dożynki) or the celebration of Our Lady of the Fields (Matka Boska Zielna) when we share  gratitude for the gifts of the earth: for food, flowers, and beauty that are a daily gift for us.

In America, children perform plays with pilgrims and Indians that share food and celebrate together. This is not true, because the original inhabitants of this land remember  the genocide, death and plunder that newcomers from Europe brought to them as an unwanted gift. Thirty million of Native Americans were killed, almost everything was taken away from them, leaving a substitute of sovereignty on the reservations (their vengeance is the casinos, they finally found a way to benefit from the greed of their invaders!).

Because Poland has been occupied by strangers for so many years, we are sensitive to their tragedies, but we celebrate Thanksgiving the American way. Gratitude is virtue in every religion; we are grateful for our roots in Poland, for Polish culture and history, for traditions cultivated in our homes. We are also grateful for our new country, for the freedom of choice, for work, houses, gardens, careers, customs, friends and even the climate – as we enjoy our new life that we've built for ourselves in California.

Within the Helena Modjeska Art an Culture Club, we are happy for the presence of friends and the opportunity to build new friendships in our Polish family in California. We are grateful for the talents and achievements of our outstanding guests - lecturers, musicians, actors, artists. We thank all club members and guests for their presence with us, for their work, talents, achievements, help and good humor. May this celebration of Thanksgiving truly be the holiday of Polish gratitude.

With heartfelt wishes,

 Maja Trochimczyk, President



INDEPENDENCE DAY CONCERT 
IN COLLABORATION WITH CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND AND THE POLISH NATIONAL FOUNDATION 

On November 5, 2018, The Polish Consulate in Los Angeles held its Gala Concert in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Polan's Regained Independence, at the Colburn School of Music, organized with funds from the Polish National Foundation an the Polska Misja Handlowa, with organizational support from the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club.

Pianist Kate Liu played works by Paderewski (Melodie, Op. 16), Chopin (Mazurkas, Op. 59) and Beethoven (Piano Sonata Op. 110). This was a star studded evening, with Poland's Senator Anna Maria Anders, Secretary of State for International Dialogue who flew in for one night! Also, in attendance were many celebrities, including Wojciech Kocyan, pianist; Katarzyna Sadej, mezzosoprano, Jerzy Antczak, film director; Jadwiga Baranska, Kasia Smiechowicz Le Conte, Aleksandra Kaniak and Marek Probosz - aktors; Marcin Gortat from the Clippers, and many representatives of Polish American organizations from San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Francisco. Consuls General of Sweden, Greece, Italy, and Spain were in attendance, along with representatives of local government, including Jeffrey Prang, the County of Los Angeles Tax Assessor, who presented the Consulate with a special Congratulatory Resolution from the County.    

Senator Anna Maria Anders Costa made a speech about Polish independence. She mentioned especially about her father Gen. Anders, and General Maczek - an all the soldiers fighting for independence in both World Wars.  At the end she asked her audience to express gratitude for the sacrifices made by so many in her father's generation by enjoying freedom and opportunities available to them in independent Poland.


The event started from welcoming remarks by Consul General of RP Jaroslaw Lasinski, including expression of gratitude to the Modjeska Club and the Polish National Foundation for the support of this event. The consul profusely thanked the Club for the organizational support without which this event could not have taken place. A short clip from the event was broacast by TV Polonia, however without attribution to Modjeska Club.  






Maja Trochimczyk concert review of both events, Katarzyna Sadej an Kate Liu was posted on the Chopin with Cherries blog:


and published by Post Eagle Newspaper on the east coast: (subscription needed). 


Thursday, October 25, 2018

100 Years of Poland in Music - Text of Lecture by Maja Trochimczyk



100 Years of Poland in Music - Sto Lat Polski w Muzyce 

Remarks by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, Modjeska Club President at the Gala Concert in Beverly Hills, CA, October 20, 2018 (full text)


This year, in 2018, we are celebrating 100 years of Poland regaining independence in 1918. Since I think that the word “regaining” is quite “ungainly” I entitled our concert “100 Years of Poland in Music.”  The Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club is only 46 this year, since we were founded in 1971. Interestingly, it seems that in the one hundred years that passed since 1918, Poland was independent only for 50 years (minus 6 years of WWII under German and Soviet occupations, and 44 years of Soviet rule in the Polish People’s Republic, 1945 to 1989).  So, in fact, we are close in age.

Nonetheless, our club with its 46-years of history is half serious and half humorous. Serious:  because if we were to put in this room all books, articles, artworks, and inventions by our members there would be no room for guests, these numbers are in thousands! So we are very serious about our American careers and we are well established in our fields – the academe, business, medicine, or the arts. Humorous – because we cherish good humor; enjoy each other’s company and like to share this enjoyment with others, while promoting Polish culture in California.

Modjeska Club poster from 1996 by Ewa Swider

Today we are celebrating 100 Years of Poland in Music. Why in Music? Let me start with an anecdote. When I moved from Poland to Canada in 1988, I was very surprised by the content of information available from the media, newspapers, and TV evening news. Classical music, the arts – were all absent. In my Warsaw, the opening of the Chopin Competition, Warsaw Autumn Festival, Konfrontacje Film Festival, or the Jazz Jamboree were all honored on the national news and on the first pages of newspapers. Classical music and the arts were so important in PRL, the Polish People’s Republic. Even though it was a Soviet puppet state, it cherished its arts and its artists.  Poland worshipped Chopin, a half-French émigré pianist and composer as its national symbol. The same country survived one tragedy after another.

Poland survived 123 years of partitions, without its own government or state, because families read Polish books and sung Polish songs at home – Christmas carols and military songs, krakowiaks and mazurkas, and the 1816 Historical Chants by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz that were designed to pass on to the next generations of Poles the history of Polish kings and heroes in the guise of songs in Polish. The key words here are: music, memory, resilience. In English “hardiness” – Poles are “hardy” – and they are also “hardy” in Polish – indestructible.



Kazimierz Wielki - song and litograph from Historical Chants by Niemcewicz (1816 edition)


A perfect illustration of this “hardiness” and resilience may be found in the 1946 film Zakazane Piosenki / Forbidden Songs. Today, we will start our concert with the music from this film. Forbidden Songs from 1946 is the first feature film made after six years of the Second World War. Its star, Danuta Szaflarska, was a guest of our club in 2010, in a wonderful event that is even now well remembered. I had the honor and pleasure to lead this fascinating meeting and conversation with a nearly century-old star.

She debuted in Zakazane Piosenki. The action of the film takes place during the occupation of Warsaw during the war, tells the story of several residents of the same building. Their stories are loosely linked to a set of songs, both pre-war ballads popular during the war, as well as songs that make fun of the German occupation. The premiere of the film took place in January 1947. Unfortunately, already in 1948, the film was reworked for political reasons, adding praise for the Red Army, and criticism of the Home Army. After three years of hope for freedom, the night of Stalinism prevailed in Poland. Everything was seen in the crooked mirror of the PRL propaganda.

Miro Kepinski, photo by Iga Supernak


Miro Kepinski, a fantastic composer and pianist who just received yet another prize for his collection at the Opening Gala of the Polish Film Festival (for best debut as a film composer), uses some melodies from Forbidden Songs Green Apple, Hymn of Szare Szeregi in his own compositions.  His music mixes minimalism with a ‘rawness’ of the north and a Slavic melancholy blended with classic themes. Miro’s recent film credits include: a multiple-award winning feature documentary, The Wounds We Cannot See; a dark-comedy, Suicide For Beginners (with Sig Haig and Corey Feldman); as well as In This Gray Place, his feature debut (with Phil LaMarr) and Lord Finn.

Bravo, Miro! In addition to red roses, he received a signed Dyplom Uznania from us (a Certificate of Appreciation) for his ever growing collection.

Miro Kepinski receives our "Dyplom Uznania" - Photo by Iga Supernak

CONCERT PROGRAM

Miro Kępiński, pianist and film composer

  • Zakazane piosenki - Inspiracje / Forbidden Songs – Inspirations 

Songs performed by Katarzyna Sadej, mezzosoprano & Basia Bochenek, piano

  • Hej, Orle Biały / Hey White Eagle, (1917) text and music by Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941)
  • Dziś do Ciebie przyjść nie mogę /I Cannot Come to You Tonight, (1943) text and music by Stanisław Magierski 
  • Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino / Red Poppies on Monte Cassino, (1944) by Feliks Konarski (text) and Alfred Schütz (music) 
  • Five Songs by Derwid (1950s-1960s) by Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) with texts by Jerzy Miller, Tadeusz Urgacz, and others 
  • Z lat dziecinnych / From Childhood Years
  • Zakochać sie w wietrze /To Fall in Love with the Wind
  • Tylko to słowo / Only this Word
  • Filipince nudno / The Filipino Girl is Bored
  • Cyrk jedzie / The Circus is Coming
  • To ostatnia niedziela / That Last Sunday, (1935) by Zenon Friedwald (text) and Jerzy Petersburski (music) 

Artur Szyk's postcards of Paderewski and President Wilson

And now, I would like to share with you the reasons we chose these particular songs for our program. In 1918 the country was reborn. We, Californians, like to credit Ignacy Jan Paderewski with this miracle for persuading President Woodrow Wilson to add to his 14 points for the Peace Treaty, independent Poland as no. 13. I wrote about the appreciation of Paderewski by Americans for this amazing feat. That is why we are starting our concert with Hej, Orle Biały / Hey White Eagle, a battle hymn written in 1917 - both text and music - by Paderewski. He intended it for the “Blue Army” of Gen. Haller formed in the U.S. and Canada to help liberate Poland during WWI. The Great War to end all wars that ended nothing.

Cover of Hej Orle Bialy by Paderewski. Polish Museum of America, Chicago.

The Blue Army consisted of about 90,000 Americans and Canadians who immigrated from Polish lands, Galicia or  Podhale, mostly poor peasants turned factory workers, who returned to Europe to fight first alongside France against Germany, and then in Poland to restore the country’s independence and to defend it during the Polish Soviet War of 1920.  The Miracle on the Vistula was followed by the return of these  veterans to their hardworking lives in Chicago, Milwaukee, or Toronto. The Blue Army was purposefully forgotten by the PRL propagandists; their defense of Europe from the Soviets could not be taught in schools. At least, today we remember.

In our program, we skip the interwar years for now, and find ourselves in the middle of the second World War, another effort to end all wars, again a failure. Wars are entirely pointless.  Dziś do Ciebie przyjść nie mogę /I Cannot Come to You Tonight  is a song was written in 1943, with text and music penned by Stanisław Magierski, a pharmacist from Lublin and a member of the Home Army, the largest organized underground resistance to the Germans anywhere – about 400,000 people conspiring against German and Soviets occupiers during WWII.

"Place sanctified by the blood of Poles who died for the freedom of their homeland" - monument commemorating a massacre of civilians in the district of Wola, 5 August 1944, Warsaw Uprising. This one is close to my home in Wola, near the Russian Orthodox Cemetery and Sowinski Park. Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

Sadly, just like Zakazane Piosenki / Forbidden Songs, this nostalgic song was appropriated by the PRL propaganda and shifted to the partisans of Armia Ludowa, the People’s Army, formed in 1944 and controlled by the Soviets. Their numbers were much smaller (about 30,000), yet they were portrayed as the most important heroes and freedom fighters. Meanwhile the Home Army’s accursed soldiers / zołnierze wyklęci continued fighting against the Soviets and, like the brave Captain Pilecki, were mercilessly hunted and killed. Only now we can restore their memories, make films and write books about their lives.

Czerwone Maki, first page, from the Polish Museum of America

The next song, also from World War II, is Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino / Red Poppies on Monte Cassino written in 1944 on the eve of the tragic victory of Polish troops. Monte Cassino was a Benedictine monastery, where St. Benedict and his sister St. Scholastica were buried. Germans converted it into a fortress that blocked the main road towards Rome and stopped the Allied forces. Poles were asked to sacrifice themselves and storm that citadel, and so they did, with the majority of the troops dying on the slopes of Monte Cassino.  Interestingly, if you go to visit this site today, the first thing you notice is that the Benedictine monks – whose very name is synonymous with hard work – have rebuilt their monastery and church exactly as it was for centuries, with all their exquisite mosaics, architecture, stained-glass windows. It took them well over 20 years, but they refused to accept the destruction of the war, and erased its memory.


Let us return to Czerwone Maki. Feliks Konarski (1907-1991) penned the text and Alfred Schütz (1910-1999)  wrote the music. The song was composed for the Polish II Corps of Gen. Władysław Anders and with it we honor soldiers that fought for Polish independence outside of Poland.  We selected it to illustrate three facts of Polish history.

The first fact: that Poland fought alongside the Allies on many fronts and yet was denied its independence in 1945. This bitter truth is perfectly illustrated in the film premiered at the Opening Gala of the Polish Film Festival in Los Angeles, Squadron 303, with a fantastic role by Maciej Zakoscielny.  Based on the popular novel by Arkady Fiedler it presents the contribution of heroic Polish pilots to the Battle of Britain: they shot down 126 German planes, while losing only eight planes themselves.  Yet, there were denied the right to march in the Victory Parade: Churchill and Roosevelt partnered with Stalin, Poland’s government in exile, located in London, and refusing to accept Soviet occupation, was a thorn in their side.

Church candles in Poland, photo by Maja Trochimczyk

The second fact: that Poland lost more than half of its land after Soviets took over what is now Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine – the so called Kresy, the Borderlands. In 1940-41, up to 1.5 million Poles were deported to Siberia, Kazakchstan, and Central Asia; about 500,000 died. From among those who lived, the Anders Army gathered nearly 80 thousand soldiers and took in over 37 thousand civilian deportees, women, children and war orphans to Iran, Palestine, Italy and on around the world. India welcomed a thousand Polish orphans with Hanka Ordonowna - the famous Ordonka - as their teacher (you can read her story in her memoir, now out of print, soon to appear in its first English translation from Moonrise Press). New Zealand received just fifty Polish children and there is a museum to prove it!

There were Polish refugee camps in Kenya, Uganda, Rhodesia, Australia, and Mexico.  You can find out more, if you join the group “Kresy Siberia” on FB, and read posts by children of survivors, scattered literally around the globe. The poet of Czerwone MakiFeliks Konarski was one of these survivors, an Anders Army soldier and theater director (“Polska Parada”) who wrote texts to popular songs as “Ref-Ren” in the interwar era in Poland and settled in London after the war, where he staged over 30 theater performances for the Polish community. After 1965, he ended up in Chicago, where for many years he had a Polish radio program called Czerwone Maki. 

The third historical fact is that up to 10% of Anders’ Army were Jews, including the majority of musicians. We can name Alfred Schütz, the composer of Czerwone Maki, as well as Henryk Wars / Henryk Warszawski / Henry Vars (1902-1977 – his archives are at the USC Polish Music Center and children live in Los Angeles)and Jerzy Petersburski (1895-1979) who wrote the last song on our program tonight.  Schütz went to Brazil for 15 years, but ended up in Munich, working for Radio Free Europe for another 25.  Paradoxically after Schütz died in 1999 and his wife passed on as well, the royalties for Czerwone Maki, this anthem of anti-German struggle of Polish soldiers, were collected  by the State of Bavaria, the same state that saw the origins of Hitler’s rise to power… Only in 2015 were the royalties from this war-time anthem assigned to the Polish government.

Maja Trochimczyk's lecture, photo by Lucyna Przasnyski

Thus, with three war songs we commemorate the tremendous sacrifices made by Poles during both World Wars, the suffering and tragedies that resulted in a national Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that still affects us.  (This, at least is a thesis of Maciej Świrski from the Polish National Foundation). Poles could not tell the truth for 50 years after the war: they went from fire into fire, from oppressive German and Soviet rule, into Soviet occupation of a country cut in half and transformed from a multi-ethnic, culturally diverse nation, into one that was almost uniformly Polish and Catholic. According to British historian Norman Davies, the Polish census of 1931 listed the nationalities by language as Polish, 69% of the population, Ukrainian, 15%, Jews 8.5%, Belarusian, 4.70%, German, 2.2%, Russian 0.25%, Lithuanian, 0.25%, Czech 0.09%, (Davies, God’s Playground, Vol. 2, p. 460). Thus, one-third of Polish population consisted of minorities.

After the war, however, Poland became mostly Polish, due not only to the Holocaust and departure of the remnant of Jews in 1946-48 (the survivors did not want to live under the Soviet rule and many went to the newly formed Israel instead), but also because of the deportation of Poles from lands taken over by the Soviet Union (about 4.5 million deportees) and the expulsion of Germans from Silesia and Pomerania, lands given to Poland in return for the lost eastern provinces. The borders shifted, the country shrank and lost its Slavic inhabitants as well. Belarusians, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians stayed where they lived for generations, yet found themselves in Soviet republics.

 
Covers of Trochimczyk's poetry books about war experiences of her family,  and Polish civilians.
Books recognized by the 2016 Creative Arts Prize by the Polish American Historical Association. 

The losses were harsh on everyone; there is not a Polish family that has not lost someone in World War II. I counted my losses in two poetry books, Slicing the Bread (Finishing Line Press, 2014) and The Rainy Bread (2016, read sample poems ). For so long, Poles could not face the past, deal with the pain and move on. The unhealed trauma still breaks up in public – in attitudes of victimhood, attacks, or hatred. For almost 50 years, historical facts could not be discussed in public, though people all knew them at home – about the murder of Polish officers in Katyn, about the deportations, murders and betrayals.
Aleksander Janta Polczynski

After 1945, Poles faced a difficult choice. The Dividing Line, Linia Podzialu went through every family, every heart. I quoted here a title of a very interesting play by émigré nobleman and writer Aleksander Janta Połczyński (1908-1974) about ethical and personal dilemmas of emigrants, in my opinion, a much  better play than Slawomir Mrożek’s or Janusz Głowacki’s Emigrants, more truthful, yet not convenient for PRL propaganda and its heirs.  I hope that the Modjeska Club will stage a performance, or at least a staged reading of this amazing play, in Polish, in California.  Incidentally, Janta’s Polish Psalms capture the grief and trauma of displaced Poles, worrying about their families in Poland, trying to come to terms with their loss and suffering.

Polczynski's most famous book, I lied to live.

What were the post-war options for Poles? Option Number One: Ensure the survival of Poland as a nation within its historic borders, however reduced, by accepting the Soviet dominance and keeping the language and culture alive where Poland was born. This meant staying put, having children and helping them to grow up into the film makers that we welcome here today.  This meant: compromise, Orwellian double-speak.

Option Number Two: Ensure the survival of the truth about Poland as it was, without lies, masks and propaganda by emigrating to maintain the fragile Polish identity in foreign countries. This meant leaving the Old Country behind and recreating it anew in the New World. This is us, the Modjeska Club members, Polish Californians.  This meant: loss of roots and coherent identity.

The first strategy resulted in biological survival and preservation of Poland as a nation on its own lands. The second strategy resulted in scattering the remnant among a multitude of host countries. It is as if a bomb exploded in the middle of Poland and sent Polish people around the world. We could look at it as a tremendous tragedy, or as a victory, because now the whole world belongs to Poles and there is Poland everywhere.

Katarzyna Sadek and Basia Bochenek in patrotic dresses, red and white, photo by Lucyna Przasnyski


Let us then move to the main part of the program, the popular songs by Derwid, written by the avant-garde composer Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994) under a pseudonym and now being recorded by Katarzyna Sadej and Basia Bochenek. These songs illustrate the first option, the survival strategy of pretending, wearing masks and adapting, while making sure that the kernel of truth remains within. Here I’m reminded of the masks worn by the characters of Witold Gombrowicz’s fantastic novel Ferdydurke (1937) – masks to hide true identity, masks worn upon masks upon masks. So that’s Polish compromise, mala stabilizacja / small stability. Gombrowicz( 1904-1969), the author of surrealist plays and novels, was an emigrant himself, he spent the years 1939 -1963 in Argentina, and later moved back to Europe – first Germany and then southern France.

When listening to the songs of Derwid we could ask ourselves a question – who was the real Lutosławski: the world-famous avant-garde experimentalist, or the one who celebrated childhood, seasons, humor, and love in his cute and stylish songs?  What was true? What will survive? In PRL, you had to hide what you knew, pretend and lie in order to live “jako tako / so so” – we called it “the Japanese way, po japońsku” - and do your own thing. In many places, you still have to do it today. Lie to survive. Wear a mask to keep a job.

After 1989, Poland regained its independence, then became a part of the European Union, which was supposed to guarantee the country's sovereignty against Soviet domination, but turned into quite a different story. About 70% of Polish media are now in German hands. As for the factories, land, companies, and real estate formerly owned by the Polish People's Republic, their "re-privatising" was a highway robbery - a process in which former PZPR executives and other politicians became owners of vast chunks of what had belonged to the whole nation under the "socialist system." Of course, heirs to those dispossessed by the PRL after 1945 were entitled to receive their property back. But those who lost lands and possessions to Soviet Union, received nothing and the losses of many who were robbed and traumatized or murdered by German soldiers and citizens were not paid back either. Democracy returned,  and with it the endless arguments that mired Poland before its fall in 1795 and threatens its independence even now.  A sad story, so let us return to music.


Sadej and Bochenek perform, photo by Iga Supernak

The composer of the last piece on our program, Jerzy Petersburski (1895-1979), a Polish Jew and a veteran of the Polish Second Corps of General Anders, is an example of Option No. 2, of those who left.  After serving in the military, he lived and worked as a musician in Argentina and Venezuela, but at the end of his life he returned to his beloved Poland. Here’s another paradox, he returned in 1967, just a year before the last mass expulsion of the Jewish remnant from Poland in 1968 – when so many Polish Jews were told to leave and denied Polish citizenship.  Somehow, Petersburski not only returned, but thrived – he married for the third time (his second wife died in 1967). The 1935 song To ostatnia niedziela / That Last Sunday, a nostalgic tango, remained one of the greatest hits, szlagiers, of the interwar period and is popular until today.

The song itself appeared in many films, including Russian Syberiada, American Schindler’s List, Polish/French White from Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colors. It was originally performed and recorded by Mieczysław Fogg (1901-1990),  whose survival story was even more amazing than that of the famous Pianist, Władysław Szpilman. A veteran of the Polish –Soviet war of 1920, a singer since 1928, between the wars, Fogg was a “crooner” working in cabaret and revue theaters. During WWII, he became a member of the Home Army, engaging in many clandestine activities and fighting in the Warsaw Uprising. He saved the life of a Jewish composer Iwo Wesby (Ignacy Singer, 1902-1961) and his family, sheltering them in his own home until the end of the war. Wesby ended up in New York while Fogg stayed in Poland and now is on the list of the Righteous among the Nations.

Now that’s a subject for a film treatment, don’t you think?  And, please, do not forget Ordonka and the thousand Polish war orphans in India. That’s another unparalleled story of heroism, survival and resilience.

I’m sure that by now I convinced you that it is through song that Polish identity survived and thrived. We, the Modjeska Club members, will have a chance of singing together on December 15, 2018 at our annual Christmas Carols party, koledowanie. Mark your calendars for December 15th. We do it the American way, before Christmas. We are Poles in America and we are grateful for our new home.
Let me end this presentation with a fragment of a poem from my most recent book, a poetry anthology, Grateful Conversations. You can find the full text on my Poetry Laurels blog .

Yucca whipplei, endemic to the local deserts near LA. Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

In Morning Light

[…]We live on a planet where it rains diamonds.
Hard rain. Sparkling crystal droplets.
We walk on untold treasures. that we do not notice.
We forget and forget and forget - where we came from
where we are – where we are going –
[…]
We are the children of Sunlight, blessed by radiance
We wear Love’s golden haloes – we shine and blossom
In Light’s cosmic garden of stars, on this diamond planet
of what IS –  in the Heart of the great, great Silence…
[…]

Sadej and Bochenek with their flowers, photo by Iga Supernak

Today, we are most grateful for the amazing opera star, a Polish Canadian American mezzosoprano Katarzyna Sadej (sadedz) who agreed to grace our event with her astounding voice and musicality. Her voice is one in a million, you will feel its beauty very soon. If you read her biography in our program you see now many opera companies have already invited her to perform. We are delighted with her presence and thankful for the support and the musicality of the talented pianist Barbara Bochenek. So now, without further ado, welcome to One Hundred Years of Poland in Music!

Applause for the musicians. Photo by Iga Supernak

MUSICIANS BIOGRAPHIES

Katarzyna Sadej, a Polish-Canadian-American Mezzo-soprano was born in Wrocław, Poland, and is based in Los Angeles, California. Her international, eclectic career spans concert, opera, chamber music, oratorio, recital and voice-over performance. She has performed numerous world premieres and has had over a dozen new works composed especially for her. Recent opera performances: L.A. Opera debut as the Page of Herodias in Strauss’ Salome, SOPAC Ottawa debut as Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, and the title role of Bizet’s Carmen in the Palm Springs Opera Guild annual gala. Upcoming highlights include her debut with the Chicago Philharmonic as the alto soloist in Wojciech Kilar’sMissa Pro Pace, her Chinese debut at Opera Chengdu as Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’ElisirD’Amore, and her debut with conductor Alexander Shelley as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the NAC Ottawa. Her debut at Walt Disney Hall was with the Pacific American Chorale (alto solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony). Other notable debuts: Industry Opera, Carnegie Hall, Festival Mozaic, the National Theater in Taipei, the Nuits Blanches Festival of Toronto, San Diego Opera, the Ravinia Festival as a Steans Fellow, the 2012 London Olympics, the Ojai International Music Festival, the Montenegrin National Theater, the Lviv (Ukraine) and Banatul (Romania) Philharmonics, the Music Biennale Zagreb, the Bard Summerscape Music Festival, the Cartagena International Music Festival, Harvard University, and more notable venues. www.katarzynasadej.com

Kasia and Basia perform, photo by Iga Supernak.

Basia Bochenek, a Polish-American pianist, is an avid performer of classical music, whose passion and dedication for collaborative arts brought her to venues throughout the U.S. and Europe,working with world-renowned composers, incredible musicians and great conductors. Basia has made Los Angeles her home. Her performances include world premieres and new interpretations of art songs as well as chamber music. Basia has worked with Robert Jason Brown, Richard Faith, Anne Lebaron, Lori Laitman, Libby Larsen and Sofia Gubaidulina, among others. In the exploration of performing lesser known music by Polish composers as well as art songs, Basia works with Katarzyna Sadej. Their dedication to exploring new approach to art songs began at Songfest.  Basia has worked at the California Institute of the Arts, coaching young artists, accompanying opera productions, recitals, classical works and musical theatre. Other engagements include accompanying the studios of acclaimed artists, such as LA Philharmonic concertmaster Martin Chalifour, Vermeer Quartet violist Richard Young, baritones Rod Gilfry and Sherrill Milnes. Her collaborations include performances with mezzo-sopranos Suzanna Guzman, soprano Ashley Maria Bahri, violinists Roberto Cani, Mark Menzies, Lorenz Gamma and Cheryl Norman-Brick. www.basiabochenek.com

Board with performers: L to R Elizabeth Trybus, Katarzyna Sadej, Maja Trochimczyk, Ewa Barsam, Miro Kepinski. 
Back row - Marcin Gortat, Witold Sokolowski, Chris Justin. Photo by Lucyna Przasnyski.

Modjeska Club Board with musicians: L to R. Treasuer Elizabeth Przybyla, President Maja Trochimczyk, PhD, Vice President Witold Sokolowski, PhD, Community Relations Director, Ewa Barsam, Katarzyna Sadej, Barbara Bochenek, guest. Seated: Technical Director, Christ Justin and Secretary Elzbieta Trybus, PhD. Photo by Iga Supernak


Originally published on Chopin with Cherries blog, October 25, 2018