The prestigious Steinway concert hall in London presents the first of a series of concerts devoted to works of Andrzej Kurylewicz combined with a recital of poetry by Gabriela Kurylewicz, the composer's daughter
The evening consists of piano quintet, piano trios, piano solo works and violin solo works by multi-instrumentalist, jazz pioneer and composer Andrzej Kurylewicz (1932 - 2007), programmed by his daughter Gabriela Kurylewicz with members of "Piwnica Kurylewiczow" - an independent studio in Warsaw staging music, literature, visual arts and theatre, founded in 1967 by Wanda Warska and Andrzej Kurylewicz. The concert is organised by the Warsaw Foundation Form.
Gabriela Kurylewicz - poet
Jenny Quayle - actor
Varsovia Piano Trio (Ewa Skardowska - piano, Adam Zarzycki - violin, Piotr Hausenplas - cello)
Eunsley Park - violin
Henry Tong - violin
Programme:
A. Kurylewicz – piano quintet no. 1
A. Kurylewicz - Kamienie staromiejskie
A. Kurylewicz – piano trio no. 1, Trio per tre
G. Kurylewicz – 7 poems with piano solo, Heaven and the Watch
A. Kurylewicz – Modlitwa, Tango Rubio, Somnambulicy
A. Kurylewicz – Piano Crumbs for piano solo
A. Kurylewicz – piano trio no. 2, Dancion Sentimental
A. Kurylewicz – 4 Sequences, Nad Niemnem for piano solo and violin solo
A. Kurylewicz – Jeruzalem to the poem by Gabriela Kurylewicz
Andrzej Kurylewicz began playing music at the age of 6, in Music School in Lwów, and in 1950 became a student of the State Musical College in Kraków, in class of piano under supervision of Henryk Sztompka as well as Stanislaw Wiechowicz. In 1954 Kurylewicz, who was a member of pioneer jazz band Melomani, was expelled from the school for playing then-forbidden jazz. In later years, Kurylewicz became conductor of the Polish Radio and Television Orchestra in Warsaw, with which he toured the world, playing among others in Cuba and the USA. He played in his own avant-garde ensemble Formacja Muzyki Wspolczesnej, also wrote music for several films, such as "Lalka" and "Polskie drogue". On the 24th of April 2007 he was posthumously awarded the Polonia Restituta by president Lech Kaczyński.
The first concert of the series "Music and Poetry" is held at London's Steinway Hall on the 28th of September 2011 at 16:00. The concert is co-organised by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, commissioned by Ministry of Culture.
For more information about Andrzej Kurylewicz see: www.kurylewicz.pl
Steinway Hall
44 Marylebone Lane
London
W1U 2DB
Source: press release