Night with Walewska
A Night at the Opera with
Małgorzata Walewska
in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at Seattle Opera
Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 7:30pm
A private reception with Małgorzata Walewska
Sunday, January 17, 2010
From Seattle Opera Website: Polish mezzo-soprano Malgorzata Walewska made her Seattle Opera debut as Judith in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. Since making her debut in 1991 at Polish National Opera, Malgorzata Walewska has appeared at opera houses throughout Europe, most recently as Ulrica in Verdi’s Ballo in maschera in Madrid and in the title role of Gnecchi’s Cassandra at Deutsche Opera Berlin. Her roles for Vienna State Opera include Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, and Pierotto in Linda di Chamounix. At the Savonlinna Festival, her many appearances included Amneris in Verdi’s Aida, Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, and Carmen. Other European opera credits include Teatro della Opera in Rome, Semperoper in Dresden, and Polish National Opera, amongst others. Walewska made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Dalila in Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila in 2005, followed by Amneris, and last season she debuted at the New National Theatre in Tokyo as Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos. Upcoming engagements include Deutsche Oper Berlin as Dalila, and Royal Opera Covent Garden and San Francisco Opera as Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore, a role she will reprise this season at Seattle Opera.
The UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee invites you to Seattle Opera on January 16, 2010. A reception at a private residence the following day will provide an opportunity to meet Miss Walewska in person. Your $100 donation will include an opera ticket and the reception with Miss Walewska.
To make reservations please contact Ewa Poraj-Kuczewska at EwaPoraj@q.com or call 206.362.3829. All proceeds from the event will benefit the UW Polish Studies Endowment.
Freedom on the Fence
The University of Washington Polish Studies Endowment Committee invites you to
Presentation and screening by producer/director Prof. Andrea Marks
Oregon State University
Thursday, December 3, 2009, 7pm Kane Hall on the UW campus, room 110
Illust. Mieczysław Górowski
Freedom on the Fence is a documentary project about the history of Polish posters and their significance to the social, political and cultural life of Poland. Examining the period from WWII through the fall of Communism, “Freedom on the Fence” captures the paradox of how this unique art form flourished within a Communist regime. The documentary contains interviews with older and younger generations of poster artists, examples of past and current poster work, historic and current film footage of where and how posters are viewed, and commentaries from both American and Polish scholars and artists on the significance of the Polish poster as a cultural icon.
Admission free – reception to follow
The event will be accompanied by an exhibition of Polish posters from local collections. “The Polish Poster: A Visual Metaphor” exhibition, curated by Ewa and Krzysztof Poraj-Kuczewski, will be on display at the UW Allen Library North November 30 – January 15, 2010.
The event is sponsored by the UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee and the Polish Home Foundation
Mariusz Kwiecień is back in Seattle
Polish Studies Endowment fund raising opera event
Saturday, May 9, 7:30pm in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Seattle Opera
Sunday, May 10, 6:00pm ‘up close and personal’ at a private reception
Mariusz Kwiecień, the Polish baritone, whose Don Giovanni gave the Seattle audience goose bumps, received the 2007 Opera Artist of the Year’s award. In May 2009, he returns to the Seattle Opera as Count Almaviva in a new production of The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most popular, this opera is charming, lighthearted and endlessly enjoyable. It combines breathtaking arias and ensembles with a strong, highly entertaining plot. Le nozze di Figaro sparkles with genius.
![[figaro photo 1]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SpZXj4nNKNo/SYKGuxe98aI/AAAAAAAAACE/ByY0tjL_yfk/s288/Mariusz_Kwiecien_Metropolitan.jpg)
The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera, 2007
Famous for his velvet baritone and magnetic stage presence, Mariusz Kwiecień opened the 2008/2009 season in Paris as Eugene in Eugene Oniegin. Among his recent engagements are: Don Giovanni in London Covent Garden and Opera Krakowska; at the Metropolitan Opera: La Boheme (Marcello), Lucia di Lammermoor (Enrico), and the 125th Met Anniversary Gala; Karol Szymanowski’s Król Roger at the Opera National de Paris; Le nozze di Figaro (Count Almaviva) at Teatro Real de Madrid and the Seattle Opera.
The UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee invites you to the Seattle Opera on May 9, 2009. The reception at a private residence the following day will provide an opportunity to meet Mariusz Kwiecień in person. Your $100 donation will include an opera ticket and the reception with Mr. Kwiecień. To make reservations please contact Ewa Poraj-Kuczewska or call 206.362.3829 by April 15, 2009.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the UW Polish Studies Endowment. For more information visit www.polishstudiesuw.org
Polish Heroes
POLISH HEROES: THOSE WHO RESCUED JEWS
January 12 – February 13, 2009 Suzzallo Library
University of Washington in Seattle
This moving exhibition by photographer Chris Schwartz tells the story of 21 Poles who rescued Jews during the World War II German occupation of Poland. Each of these heroic individuals still resides in the Krakow region today. This exhibition is a tribute to the “Polish Righteous Among Nations” created by the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim, Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, and the Polish American Jewish Alliance for Youth Action.
The exhibit is accompanied by five Thursday lectures at the University of Washington: Kane Hall, Room 220. Admission is free.
| January 15 7:30PM | “Historical Background” by Prof. Przemysław Chojnowski, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland & Visiting Fulbright Scholar of UW Polish Studies , and “Challenges of Rescuers and the Rescued” by Stanlee Stahl, Executive Vice President, Jewish Foundation for the Righteous |
| January22 7:30PM | Two Short Films: "Żegota and Irena Sendler” and “Righteous Among Nations” Introduction by Martha Golubiec, UW PSEC |
| January29 7:30PM | "Irena Sendler's Children” by Prof. Przemyslaw Chojnowski, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań |
| February 5 7:00PM | “Henry Friedman, Holocaust Survivor: One of the Rescued” by Henry Friedman |
| February 12 7:30PM | "Rescue in the Polish Countryside- Politics, Differentiation in the Occupied Village" by Prof. Keely Stauter-Halsted, Michigan State University |
Sponsors: The University of Washington Polish Studies Endowment Committee (UW PSEC), Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles, and Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, in cooperation with the University of Washington Slavic Department, Jewish Studies Program, Ellison Center, and History Department.
Adam Makowicz
May 19, 2006
Recital
As a youngster learning classical piano in mid-fifties Poland, when jazz was barely tolerated by the regime, Adam Makowicz discovered jazz on Willis Conover’s Voice of America broadcasts. It did not take long for jazz to discover Adam Makowicz: by 1977 he could be heard on 26 albums, had performed on three continents, and been voted Number One Jazz Pianist of Europe by readers of the international periodical, Jazz Forum. In that year the legendary talent scout and producer John Hammond brought Makowicz to the mecca of jazz musicians, New York City. He arranged a ten-week engagement at the famous jazz club, The Cookery, in Greenwich Village, a solo album called Adam on the CBS – Columbia label, and a solo performance at Carnegie Hall on the same bill with jazz icons Earl “Fatha” Hines, George Shearing, and Teddy Wilson. Appearing in such august company, says Adam, “I was scared to death!”
Since then he has been a major attraction at jazz festivals all over the world; was guest solist with such orchestras as the National Symphony of Washington, the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and the Warsaw Philharmonic; and has expanded his discography to 50 albums, with 34 of them under his own name. These include CD’s individually dedicated to such beloved American composers as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, and, in recent release, Duke Ellington. Now in addition to his brilliant improvisations on the popular classics, Makowicz occasionally performs his own compositions.
On one of his recent albums, Reflections on Chopin, Makowicz brings his extraordinary technical virtuosity to bear upon his own musical roots, presenting Chopin in a jazz idiom, as he did on the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death when invited to perform at the French Embassy in Washington, DC. It is the only disc of its kind in America, and underscores his interest in building bridges between classical music and jazz.
Since 1989, Adam Makowicz has returned to his homeland every year, popularizing the music of American composers both in solo recitals and with the country’s finest symphony orchestras. His performances in packed halls have included Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, as well as a Rhapsody in Blue that features his own extended cadenza. Makowicz’s many honors and awards have included the Officer’s Cross of Merit of the republic of Poland.
A night at the opera with Walewska
A night at the opera and 'up close & personal' with mezzo-soprano Małgorzata Walewska
![[walewska photo]](/static/images/walewska.png)
Saturday, February 28, 7:30pm - Bluebeard's Castle
Sunday, March 1, 5:30pm - cocktail party with the artist
Following successful performances of two Polish superstars, Ewa Podleś and Mariusz Kwiecień, the Seattle Opera will introduce this season another diva, Małgorzata Walewska.
Since making her debut in 1991 at the Polish National Opera, Małgorzata Walewska has appeared at opera houses throughout Europe (in Vienna she performed with Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo). In 2005 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Dalila in Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila. In Seattle, Walewska, a "fine singing actress with a stunning mezzo", will appear as Judith in Bartok's opera Bluebeard's Castle, the enigmatic Hungarian fairy tale.
The UW Polish Studies Endowment Committee invites you to the Seattle Opera on February 28 (it is a double-bill: Bluebeard's Castle followed by Schoenberg's Erwartung). A cocktail party at a private residence the following day will provide an opportunity to meet Małgorzata Walewska in person. Your $100 donation will include an opera ticket and the reception with the artist. To make reservations please contact Ewa Poraj-Kuczewska at EwaPoraj@q.com or call 206.362.3829 by February 10, 2009.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the UW Polish Studies Endowment.
Polish Avant-Garde Film
October 18th, 2003
The Polish Cultural Institute and Pacific Film Archive of the University of California Berkeley Art Museum developed a collection entitled “Polish Avant-Garde Film before 1945.” The program presented eight rare Polish short films that had never before been seen in the United States.