Lecture & Artist Series
Spring 2010 Events
- "Chopin in Music and Letters" - March 7 at 3 pm
Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music - 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester NY
A concert to celebrate the Chopin bicentennial will consist of performances of Chopin's music interspersed with readings of passages from his correspondence. The genesis of Chopin’s compositions, his character, and personality can be drawn from these writings. Chopin’s music will be performed by musicians from the Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, Boston Conservatory, Nazareth College, and Eastman School of Music.
Free and open to the public.
Program Flyer
Co-sponsored by the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, the Nazareth College Music Department, and the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester. -
Skalny Lecture - Wednesday, April 7 at 7:30 pm
Łódź - Promised Land, Waste Land
Sloan Auditorium in Goergen Hall, University of Rochester River Campus
Dr. Magdalena Modrzejewska, Assistant Professor at the Institute of America Studies and Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, and Skalny Visiting Professor
Łódź is a unique, multicultural city in central Poland. In the 19th century the small town of Łódź rapidly changed into a modern industrial centre. Four ethnic groups, Jews, Russians, Germans and Poles, created the wealth of the city; four religions, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity and Judaism shaped its culture. The aim of the lecture is to present its cultural and economic development as reflected in architecture, social life, and changes in business phenomena in the last century.
Magdalena Modrzejewska completed her Ph.D. in 2007 in the field Political Science at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. Her research interests include American political thought and broadly understood political philosophy and visual culture. She has authored a book “Libertarian concepts of individual and state in contemporary American political thought” by the Jagiellonian University Press, forthcoming in June 2010. She has been awarded many grants and honors, among them The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund for young leaders. From 2006-2008 she was a vice-chair of U.S. Matters – the Polish think-tank promoting civil society in Poland, and cooperation between Poland and U. S.
She was born and raised in Łódź. - An Evening of Poetry with Piotr Sommer - Tuesday, April 20 at 7:30 pm
Sloan Auditorium in Goergen Hall, University of Rochester River Campus
Famous Polish poet Piotr Sommer joins us from Warsaw to read from his recently published book of poems translated into English, Continued. Sommer has published several dozen books: poetry (his own and translations), literary criticism, anthologies. His poems have been hailed for their spontaneous, colloquial style, and lyrical observations of everyday life. Sommer is also a well-known translator of contemporary English-language poets, including works by Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney, D.J. Enright, Frank O'Hara, Charles Reznikoff, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, John Berryman, Robert Lowell, and Derek Mahon, and the editor of Literatura na Świecie (World Literature), a Warsaw-based magazine of international writing.
Free and open to the public. Reception will follow the talk. RSVP to (585) 275-9898 or bozenna.sobolewska@rochester.edu by April 12, 2010
Co-sponsored by the University of Rochester Department of English and the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies. - The Silesian String Quartet - concert of Polish music - Sunday, May 16, 4:00 pm
Linehan Chapel, Nazareth College , 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618
A word-famous string quartet from Poland, Kwartet Śląski (The Silesian String Quartet,) will present an exclusive concert of Polish music at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY.
Program:
Szymanowski – String Quartet No. 2
Bacewicz – String Quartet No. 3
Górecki – String Quartet No. 1 "Juz sie zmierzcha" [Already It Is Dusk]
Penderecki – String Quartet No. 2
Linehan Chapel is located in the Golisano Academic Center at Nazareth College (#21 on the map). Information about the Silesian String Quartet can be found on their web page.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Sponsored by the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, The Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, Polish Heritage Society of Rochester, Nazareth College: Department of Music, Center for International Education, Academic Lecture Committee.
Fall 2009 Events
- "Chopin for Cello" - Cello Recital by Ignacy Grzelazka - December 13 at 3:00 pm
Strong Auditorium, University of Rochester River Campus
This concert constitutes the first part of our celebration of 200th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin’s birthday. Ignacy Grzelazka, an accomplished cellist, currently working on his Graduate Performance Diploma at Boston Conservatory, will play music Chopin composed for cello and several transcriptions from piano.
Co-sponsored by the Department of Music and the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester
Free and open to the public
The program for the recital is available here. - Polish Film Festival - November 14 to November 18
The Little Theatre, 240 East Avenue
The program for the festival is available here. - Grand Opening of the Polish Film Festival - November 13 at 7:00 pm
Rochester Academy of Medicine, 1441 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14610
Panel discussion will be followed by a reception. Details to follow. - Skalny Lecture - Tuesday, November 3 at 7:30 pm
Public Debate about Private Matters in Contemporary Poland
Sloan Auditorium, Goergen Hall
Dr. Barbara Klich-Kluczewska, Associate Professor at the Institute of History, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, and Skalny Visiting Professor
To slap a child or not to slap? That is a widely discussed question engaged by Polish politicians, including the prime minister and party leaders, the media and the Catholic Church. Children's and women's rights, in vitro fertilization, abortion, contraception and divorce have come to the center of public and political debate since the Revolution of 1989. How do these vivid discussions and new legislation reflect the transformation and democratization of Polish society? How they represent the fragmentation of the Polish political scene?
Dr. Klich-Kluczewska received her Ph.D. from the Institute of History, Jagiellonian University. Her main professional interests are the history of Poland under communism and, in general, the history of Central Europe in the 20th century. Her current research deals with taboos within the societies under communism, comparing Poland and Czechoslovakia in the 1960s and 1970s.
Free and open to the public. - Skalny Lecture - Friday, October 2 at 7:30 pm
Global Climate Change: The Polish Perspective
Sloan Auditorium, Goergen Hall
Professor Marek Konarzewski, Minister Counselor, Science & Technology Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Poland.
Global climate change potentially poses a considerable and multi-facetted challenge to all contemporary states and nations. The talk will examine the possible scenarios of the effects climate change may have on Poland’s environment, national economy, security as well as public health. It will also discuss Poland’s foreign policy options/opportunities, with respect to international agreements related to global climate change.
Dr. Marek Konarzewski received his undergraduate and graduate education in biology at the University of Bialystok. He pursued Ph.D. and DsC degrees at the Institute of Ecology, Polish Academy of Sciences. After postdoctoral work at the University of California, Los Angeles he returned to the University of Bialystok. He is now Professor of Biology at the Institute of Biology, University of Bialystok and at the Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, in Białowieża. Dr. Konarzewski is a recipient of a Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Award and the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Polish Academy of Sciences for ecological and evolutionary studies. Effective November 2008 he has been appointed as a Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington DC.
Free and open to the public. Reception will follow the talk. RSVP to (585) 275-9898 or bozenna.sobolewska@rochester.edu by September 28, 2009.
Spring 2009 Events
- Skalny Lecture - Thursday, April 30 at 7:30 pm
Sloan Auditorium, Goergen Hall
Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, Associate Professor at the Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, and Skalny Center Visiting Professor.
After the Holocaust and after a half century of totalitarianism which had “monoculturalized” the population, the average person – inside Poland as well as out – believed Polish Christian-Polish Jewish relations to be a moot point in 1989. Who was there to talk to and what was there to talk about? In fact, however, there had been work quietly or more loudly done by both Polish Jews and Polish Christians since the 1970s. Nearly two decades after communism, where is this taking “Polish-Jewish Relations” within Poland and without?
Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska is a Polish-American expatriate who has been living in Kraków, Poland since 1985. A social anthropologist in the Institute of Sociology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, her field of research is majority-minority relations – particularly issues of racism, extreme nationalism, and antisemitism – and political anthropology. In addition to the Jagiellonian in Krakow and the Centre of Social Studies in Warsaw, she also lectures at the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska was a 1999 Koerner Holocaust Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies, a 2004 Yad Vashem Fellow in Israel, and is currently a Skalny Center Visiting Professor at the University of Rochester. - Katyń - Friday, April 17 8;00 pm and Sunday, April 19, 7:00 pm
Dryden Theatre, 900 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607, 585-271-4090
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Screnplay: Andrzej Wajda, Władysław Pasikowski, and Przemysław Nowakowski, based on Andrzej Mularczyk’s novel: Katyń. Post Mortem.
Cinematography: Paweł Edelman Music: Krzysztof Penderecki
Producer: Michał Kwieciński and Katarzyna Fukacz-Cebula
Principal Cast: Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Żmijewski, Maja Komorowska, Władysław Kowalski, Jan Englert, Danuta Stenka, Paweł Małaszyński, Andrzej Chyra, Krzysztof Kolberger, Krzysztof Globisz, Wiktoria Gąsiewska, et al
The atrocities in Poland’s Katyń Forest, where over 15,000 Polish war prisoners were executed and buried in secret by the Soviets in 1940, provides the emotional center of this deeply moving new drama. The movie, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for the 80th Academy Awards, offers a fascinating and unusually compassionate study of Poland’s complicated position during WWII. Wajda, Poland’s premiere director and Academy Honorary Award winner, has, at age 81, crafted a masterpiece.
In addition to featuring a top Polish cast, the cinematographer is award-winning Paweł Edelman ("Ray," "All the King's Men," "The Pianist," "Oliver Twist") and the music is by the world-famous composer Krzysztof Penderecki.
Tickets for these screenings can be purchased at the Dryden Theatre box office before each show. The ticket price is $7.00 /$5 members and students.
Theater doors open 45 minutes prior to show time.
Co-sponsored by George Eastman House and Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies. - Concert of Polish Music - Sunday, March 29 at 3 pm
From Chopin to Penderecki: Masterpieces of Polish Music from Romantic to Contemporary
Strong Auditorium, Lower Level, UR River Campus
Music of Chopin, Szymanowski, Moniuszko, Wieniawski, Panufnik, Penderecki, and other Polish composers for violin, piano, cello, and piano trio.
Born in Łódź, Poland, cellist Ignacy Grzelązka received his musical training at Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw and at Texas Christian University. He has performed, among others, at the National Philharmonic Hall and the Royal Castle Hall in Warsaw, Poland, the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Hall in Germany, and at the festival “Music in the Mountains” in Durango, CO. He won many international awards, like the Grand Prize for Best Solo Performance and Best Chamber Music Performance at the Allegro-Vivo music festival in Horn, Austria; award at International Kiejstut Bacewicz Chamber Music Competition in Łódź, Poland, and scholarships from the Ministry of Culture in Poland and the Ministry of Culture in Austria.
Sabina Ślepecki has been the First Violinist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra since 1973. She holds degrees from Academy of Music in Warsaw and Julliard School of Music and has performed as soloist with Warsaw Philharmonic, Katowice Philharmonic, Bergen Symphony Orchestra, and many others. She has been active in the Polish community in Rochester for many years, promoting Polish music and working with Polish youth.
Zuzanna A. Szewczyk holds a Bachelor's and Master's in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music and is currently in her final year of studies towards a Doctorate of Musical Arts. She studies with Professor Natalya Antonova and especially enjoys performing and premiering new music. She is a recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, plays weekly concerts at retirement homes (Mozart and Chopin), and has a private studio of over 30 students in the Rochester area.
14 year old Emily Tworek Helenbrook, has been described as a “vocal prodigy,” blessed with a ‘”hauntingly beautiful voice” which has thrilled audiences throughout Western New York and Canada. She has performed as a vocal soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Cathedral Strings Orchestra at St. Paul’s Cathedral Canisus College, Villa Maria College in Buffalo, Nazareth College, and Kilbourn Hall, to name a few. She was the featured soloist with the ARS Nova Orchestra in their Viva Vivaldi series. Emily has recently won the Search for a Star music competition, sponsored by the RPO and will be performing with the orchestra on May 31 at the Eastman Theatre.
Joseph Werner has been the Principal Pianist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra since 1975 and the orchestra's Personnel Manager since 1993. He also serves as Co-Artistic Director of Chamber Music Rochester and Co-Chair of the Piano Department of the Hochstein Music School. Mr. Werner is the 2007 Mu Phi Epsilon Musician of the Year. - Skalny Luncheon Seminar - Wednesday, March 25 at 12 pm
Dr. Daniel Epstein, Skalny Center Postdoctoral Fellow
Political Party System Development in Post-Communist Poland
Gamble Room, Rush Rhees Library
Although Poland's democracy has shown none of the signs of authoritarian backsliding of its post-socialist neighbors further east, the institutions of its democracy have not become as routinized as in other successful transitions regimes. This talk will examine the development of some of the critical institutions of democracy in Poland, including the semi-presidential system and the political party system.
Daniel J. Epstein received a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University in 2008 and is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester. His dissertation examined party system institutionalization in Russia and Brazil the influence of executive-legislative balance upon it. He is now beginning a study of the Polish party system in comparative perspective. Next fall, Dr. Epstein will be Assistant Professor of Political Science at Colgate University.
Lunch will be provided - Skalny Lecture - Thursday, March 19 at 5:15pm
Dr. Randall Stone
Are the Russians Still Coming?
Rochester Public Library
Russia struggled after the end of the Cold War to build a market economy and a democratic political system, but by the time it had achieved a measure of economic success, its politics had become increasingly authoritarian. Meanwhile, Russia’s relations with its more democratic neighbors have soured, and conflict has come to predominate over cooperation in relations with the United States. What conclusions should we draw from Russia’s recent conflict with Georgia, and from its tensions with other neighboring countries? How should U.S. foreign policy respond?
The talk is a part of a series “Thursday Thinker Series” and is sponsored by the Friends of the Public Library. - Concert of Baroque Music for Harpsichord and Violin - Sunday, March 8 at 3 pm
Anna Parkitna (harpsichord) and Hannah Sless (violin)
Music of J. S. Bach, C. P. Bach, D. Scarlatti, J. Polak, J. Podbielski, Mikołaj z Krakowa, and others.
Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, NY 14604
Anna Parkitna holds a Master of Arts degree from I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, Poland, and a degree in Master of Music from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, UK. She performs regularly, both solo and in chamber music.
Hannah Sless received a post graduate diploma from the Australian Institute of arts and studied baroque violin at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Netherlands. She plays regularly with period groups, including the Gabrielli Ensemble and the Netherland Bach Orchestra.
Anna and Hannah are coming to Rochester from England especially for this performance. They will be playing music for harpsichord and violin, as well as for harpsichord solo, including Polish baroque music.
Co-sponsored by the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies and the Polish Heritage Society of Rochester. - Skalny Lecture - Thursday, Feburary 26 at 7:30 pm
Dr. Radosław Rybkowski, Associate Professor and Vice-Director of the Institute of America Studies and Polish Diaspora, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, and New York University Fulbright Fellow
The chair to share: Between the powers of Polish President and Prime Minister
Sloan Auditorium, Goergen Hall
At the European Council meeting in October 2008 all EU member states were given two chairs for their representatives. Nevertheless, Poland was represented by the President, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Evidently, one chair was shared by two Polish officials. This picture reflects the power struggle between President and government - the process which started just after the signing of Lisbon Treaty. The question who should shape Polish foreign policy is still not answered. The presentation will discuss possible future scenarios.