relations and reviews

Marta Ptaszyńska was honored with the American Council for Polish Culture Award during the 71st Annual Conference of the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC), held on 6-8 September 2019 at the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw.

The conference was opened by the ACPC President Thomas Payne. It featured business sessions, lectures and a concert of Wojciech Bafeltowski and Mateusz Błaszczak cello duo. CEOs and delegates from many organizations promoting Polish culture in the United States have reported on their activities. During the festive banquet on 7 September, composer Marta Ptaszyńska received the ACPC Award for Achievements in the Field of Culture. The laudation was given by Dr Jarosław Gołembiowski

Marta Ptaszyńska graduated in composition at the Music Academies in Warsaw and Poznań. For many years, Witold Lutosławski ws her mentor. In 1969-70, she continued her compositional studies with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. Since 1972, she lives in the United States. In 1974, she received the Artist Diploma in Composition and Percussion at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has taught composition at many American universities and music schools, including Bennington College in Vermont, University of California in Berkeley and in Santa Barbara, Indiana University in Bloomington, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University in Evanson. In 1998, she became a professor of composition at the University of Chicago. As a lecturer, she requires high-quality work, clear writing and individual character. Her music is published by PWM Edition in Poland and Theodore Presser in the United States. Her works are recorded by CD Accord-Universal, Muza Polish Records, Olympia, Chandos, Dux, ProViva and Bayers Records. For many years, the University of Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players (Contempo) under the guidance of Professor Ptaszyńska presented contemporary compositions during seasonal concerts at the Logan Center at the University of Chicago. During these concerts, many Polish composers performed for the first time in the United States.

A concert on the occasion of the coming centenary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Estonia took place on 14 July 2019 at the Maarjamäe Castle in Tallinn. The event organized by the Polish Composers' Union in cooperation with Estonian Record Productions was a part of the Glasperlenspiel Music Festival 2019.

Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta under the baton of the renowned Estonian conductor Andreas Mustonen performed a programme composed of works by both Polish and Estonian composers. Krzysztof Penderecki's Agnus Dei from Polish Requiem, written after the death of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in 1981, was performed in Boris Pergamenschikow's arranement for string orchestra. To honor the 110th birth and 50th death anniversary of Grażyna Bacewicz, the programme included Divertimento for string orchestra. Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta also performed an arrangement of the Etude in B flat minor, Op. 4 No. 3 by Karol Szymanowski, the father of the Polish musical avant-garde of the 20th century.

Among the Estonian works, there was Concerto for chamber orchestra, Op. 16 by Jaana Rääts, Musica profana by Lepo Sumera and Summa by Arvo Pärt – the world's most-performed living composer, whoreceived the diploma of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in 2018. The programme also included In Memoriam HM by Peeter Vähi, the artistic director of the Glasperlenspiel Music Festival, and the miniature Glow in Estonian Heavens by Pärt Uusberg, young Estonian composers who was present at the concert. The evening finished with the work of the Polish composer of the young generation, Maciej Bałenkowski, entitled – like the whole concert – "Time is Ticking". As the encore, Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta presented one more Polish work – an arrangement of the popular Minuet in G major, Op. 14 No. 1 by Igancy Jan Paderewski.

The concert was preceded by a lecture on the presented repertoire given by Tiina Jokinen, Executive Director of the Estonian Record Productions. The guest of honor of the event was the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Estonia, Grzegorz Kozłowski, who gave an official speech during a meeting with musicians and the audience after the concert.

The event was the culmination of the first part of the project "With Polish music from the Baltic to the Atlantic" implemented by the Polish Composers' Union under the programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage "Promotion of Polish culture abroad". Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund.

Marta Ptaszyńska was honored with the American Council for Polish Culture Award during the 71st Annual Conference of the American Council for Polish Culture (ACPC), held on 6-8 September 2019 at the Bristol Hotel in Warsaw.

The conference was opened by the ACPC President Thomas Payne. It featured business sessions, lectures and a concert of Wojciech Bafeltowski and Mateusz Błaszczak cello duo. CEOs and delegates from many organizations promoting Polish culture in the United States have reported on their activities. During the festive banquet on 7 September, composer Marta Ptaszyńska received the ACPC Award for Achievements in the Field of Culture. The laudation was given by Dr Jarosław Gołembiowski

Marta Ptaszyńska graduated in composition at the Music Academies in Warsaw and Poznań. For many years, Witold Lutosławski ws her mentor. In 1969-70, she continued her compositional studies with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. Since 1972, she lives in the United States. In 1974, she received the Artist Diploma in Composition and Percussion at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has taught composition at many American universities and music schools, including Bennington College in Vermont, University of California in Berkeley and in Santa Barbara, Indiana University in Bloomington, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Northwestern University in Evanson. In 1998, she became a professor of composition at the University of Chicago. As a lecturer, she requires high-quality work, clear writing and individual character. Her music is published by PWM Edition in Poland and Theodore Presser in the United States. Her works are recorded by CD Accord-Universal, Muza Polish Records, Olympia, Chandos, Dux, ProViva and Bayers Records. For many years, the University of Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players (Contempo) under the guidance of Professor Ptaszyńska presented contemporary compositions during seasonal concerts at the Logan Center at the University of Chicago. During these concerts, many Polish composers performed for the first time in the United States.

A concert on the occasion of the coming centenary of establishing diplomatic relations between Poland and Estonia took place on 14 July 2019 at the Maarjamäe Castle in Tallinn. The event organized by the Polish Composers' Union in cooperation with Estonian Record Productions was a part of the Glasperlenspiel Music Festival 2019.

Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta under the baton of the renowned Estonian conductor Andreas Mustonen performed a programme composed of works by both Polish and Estonian composers. Krzysztof Penderecki's Agnus Dei from Polish Requiem, written after the death of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in 1981, was performed in Boris Pergamenschikow's arranement for string orchestra. To honor the 110th birth and 50th death anniversary of Grażyna Bacewicz, the programme included Divertimento for string orchestra. Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta also performed an arrangement of the Etude in B flat minor, Op. 4 No. 3 by Karol Szymanowski, the father of the Polish musical avant-garde of the 20th century.

Among the Estonian works, there was Concerto for chamber orchestra, Op. 16 by Jaana Rääts, Musica profana by Lepo Sumera and Summa by Arvo Pärt – the world's most-performed living composer, whoreceived the diploma of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in 2018. The programme also included In Memoriam HM by Peeter Vähi, the artistic director of the Glasperlenspiel Music Festival, and the miniature Glow in Estonian Heavens by Pärt Uusberg, young Estonian composers who was present at the concert. The evening finished with the work of the Polish composer of the young generation, Maciej Bałenkowski, entitled – like the whole concert – "Time is Ticking". As the encore, Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta presented one more Polish work – an arrangement of the popular Minuet in G major, Op. 14 No. 1 by Igancy Jan Paderewski.

The concert was preceded by a lecture on the presented repertoire given by Tiina Jokinen, Executive Director of the Estonian Record Productions. The guest of honor of the event was the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in Estonia, Grzegorz Kozłowski, who gave an official speech during a meeting with musicians and the audience after the concert.

The event was the culmination of the first part of the project "With Polish music from the Baltic to the Atlantic" implemented by the Polish Composers' Union under the programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage "Promotion of Polish culture abroad". Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund.