Krzysztof Penderecki, photo: Bogdan Krężel / Przekrój / Visavis.pl / Forum
The project is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Polish Cultural Institute in NYC.
New Music From Poland
The first marathon kicks off on the 25th of October, under the title Celebrating Poland. The show is hosted by Phil Kline, a composer and vet of the no-wave New York scene in the 1980s. (Together with film director Jim Jarmusch and The Del-Byzanteens, Kline was once a member of the Glenna Branca guitar ensemble.) On Friday, Kline will be the one to present music from Poland in all of its splendour and variety. Miniature electronic compositions authored by Jakub Ciupiński - a Pole living in New York - will be aired as part of the show.
At 7:30 pm, there will be a live transmission of a concert at the Symphony Space. Scheduled performances include the Penderecki String Quartet, Ensemble Pi, Matthew Lipman, Jay Campbell as well as instrumentalists from the Yale School of Music: Nathan Lesser (violin), Colin Brooke (alto), Alan Ohkubo (cello) and Eric Anderson (clarinet). All of the musicians and groups perform pieces by Krzysztof Pendercki, who celebrates his 80th birthday this year and who attends the concert.
Halloween
The audiences of Q2 Music radio will celebrate Halloween to the eerie sounds of Penderecki's early compositions. These pieces were used in numerous horror films, from Willian Friedkin's The Exorcist through Kubrick's legendary The Shining, to David Lynch's Inland Empire. A somewhat calmer sound that accompanied thriller pictures will be presented by another acclaimed Polish composer, Wojciech Kilar. His pieces formed the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, as well as Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate. Q2 will also air music from Polish horror and thriller films.
Lutosławski@100
The third marathon show will pay homage to Witold Lutosławski, as this year marks the centenerian anniversaryof his birthday. This show will be hosted by Nadia Sirota, a cello player who collaborates with both composers of contemporary music and with stars of the indie-music scene. As part of the marathon, this show will air a seven-part programme realised by Steven Stucky. Stucky is a composer and a former student of Lutosławski. The Lutosławski@100 show will also air an interview with Esa-Pekka Salonen, the renowned conductor for whom the music by Lutosławski is of particular value and importance.
Witold Lutosławski: A Centennial Tribute
On the 13th of December, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble performs a special concert of Witold Lutosławski's chamber pieces, among the String Quartet and the Bucolics. A discussion will follow, summarising the heritage of Lutosławski's music, with the participation of Steven Stucky and Laura Kaminsky, artistic director of Symphony Space.
Streaming of the series is available on the radio's website http://www.wqxr.org/#!/series/q2/
Editor: Paulina Schlosser, October 2013
Source: press release