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The year 2010 marks the 200th birth anniversary of composer-pianist, Frederic Chopin, of Poland. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland is celebrating the event in India in a befitting manner by organising events round the year. The Embassy is collaborating with a number of institutions and organisations which include various music schools all over India, Kala Academy Goa, the India International Centre and INTACH to name a few. November 2010 unfolds Chopin in India with two eminent Polish pianists, Prof. Jerzy Stercznski and Maestro Bogdan Marek Drewnowski, performing live to select Indian audiences. Natya Stem, a renowned Bangalore-based dance group, has been chosen to create a special dance-scape, setting a few items to Chopin’s music and some Indian dances, attempting a cultural bridge between Poland and India, through music and dance. Well-known choreographer-dancer, Madhu Nataraj, who heads Stem Dance Kampani, a wing of the Natya Institute, Bangalore, will choreograph new items with a group of about eight to ten dancers. Various Indian forms like Kathak, Kalari, Chhau and Stem’s own pedagogic research in kinetics, will form the bedrock of this presentation. The presentation would culminate in a grand finale with live piano playing Barkarola and Stem performing to it. The aim is to share each others’ cultural moorings and provide a meeting point, as it were, for both music and dance. A synergic exchange is sought between Indian dancers, trained in various forms and who will undertake special Chopin scores that are danceable and infuse it with new dimension, which is Polish in flavor, yet Indian in character. Indo-Polish cultural linkages go back to decades of collaboration in architecture, design, arts, literary and historical subjects. This music-dance encounter will strengthen these bonds and forge new paths ahead that can create a harmonious blend of two distinct yet great cultures. |
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CREDITS Pianists: Maestro Jerzy Stercznski & Maestro Bogdan Marek Drewnowski Dancers: Stem Dance Kampani led by Madhu Nataraj Conceptualized by and Music Consultant: Aruna Sunderlal Dance Consultant and Advisor: Dr.Ashish Khok
DATES & CITIES November 2010 17 Nov: Pune: Piano solo by Prof. Jerzy Stercznski. 18 Nov: Bangalore :Universal Chopin: An evening of Chopindiana Music & Dance 20 Nov: Kolkata :Universal Chopin: An evening of Chopindiana Music & Dance 23 Nov: Delhi :Universal Chopin: An evening of Chopindiana Music & Dance 25 Nov: Chennai -- Piano Solo by Maestro Bogdan Marek Drewnowski. |
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Professor Jerzy Sterczyński Born in 1957. Began to learn the piano when he was six. Finished Music High School in Bielsko-Biała, studied at the Katowice Academy of Music in Professor Andrzej Jasiński’s class and graduated with honours in 1981. He then continued his training in London with John Bingham. He won the first prize at the Young Performers prize at the Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk and the second prize at the International Music Competition in Saragossa (1983). He is a very active concert performer. He has played in Austria, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, France, Spain, South Korea, Kuwait, Germany, Portugal and Italy. He has taken part in the Chopin Festival in Duszniki and also in festivals in Lockenhaus and La Chaise-Dieu. Recordings occupy a special place in his artistic work. Jerzy Sterczyński has recorded 13 compact discs with all Chopin’s nocturnes, waltzes and polonaises as well as his Sonata No. 2 and several small pieces. He has also recorded solo works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Reger and Szymanowski, and Chopin’s, Lessl’s and Dobrzyński’s concertos. His latest record, released in 2005, contains Józef Wieniawski’s solo and cello sonatas. Jerzy Sterczyński has been a professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw since 1989. He was dean of the Department of Piano, Harpsicord and Organ in 2005-2008. He was re-elected for term 2008-2012. Madhu Nataraj Madhu Nataraj is known for her pioneering presence in the dance scenario, internationally. A graduate of commerce, journalism & choreography, she has trained in Kathak from her mother Dr Maya Rao & from Smt. Chitra Venugopal. Although she trained in contemporary dance in New York, she came back to India to create a unique 'contemporary Indian dance' vocabulary, where tradition & modernity co-exist. As a dancer, choreographer, arts entrepreneur (KRIA), panellist, she has been invited on many occasions to design programmes for prestigious design, academic & cultural organizations in India, UK, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, SE Asia, Europe & USA. She was chosen as one of India’s young achiever’s by ' India Today’ Natya Stem Dance Kampni The Kampni trains extensively in Kathak, Contemporary Dance technique, Yoga, martial arts like Kalari Payattu & Thaang ta, Folk/ritual dance motifs, mime and other movement disciplines to evolve a unique vocabulary.The Kampni is an empaneled company under the aegis of the ICCR ( indian council for cultural relations) Marek Drewnowski Marek Drewnowski was born in Kolobrzeg, Poland and began playing the piano as a young child. He went on to study piano at the Warsaw Academy of Music with Ryszard Bakst and Zbigniew Drzewiecki. After Professor Drzewiecki's death, he moved to Krakow where he graduated from the local PWSM (High School of Music) as a student of Jan Hoffman. His first noticeable success, both within Poland and abroad, came with his recording of the 12 Piano Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, issued in 1975. After listening to this recording, Leonard Bernstein invited Mr. Drewnowski to perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He went on to play concerts in some of the most splendid and famous concert halls in Europe, the United States and Japan. In September 1989 Mr. Drewnowski, alongside world-famous artists such as Leonard Bernstein, Barbara Hendricks, Herman Prey and Liv Ulman, participated in the performance of a solemn concert marking the occasion of the 50th anniversary of World War II. The entire event was broadcast by television stations throughout the world. In 1991 Mr. Drewnowski received the prestigious "Orpheus" award from the SPAM (Stowarzyszenia Polskich Artystów Muzyków, Polish Artists and Musicians Association) Music Critics for his performance of the world premiere of Stefan Kisielewski's Piano Concerto at the Warsaw Autumn contemporary music festival. His recordings include Domenico Scarlatti's Sonatas, the Piano Concertos of C.M. von Weber released by FREQUENZ, ARTE, and a series of records with TONPRESS and of Chopin music and piano concertos in chamber form (quintet) which have been brought back to concert stages thanks to him. His recent recordings include Tansman's 2nd Piano Concerto and Szymanowski's 4th Symphony Concertante. He recorded Chopin's piano concertos and 19 waltzes on video compact for NVC Arts in London and New York. He received high critical acclaim for his recordings of Chopin's renowned Piano Concertos for BELOVED ENTERTAINMENT GROUP (Dinemec) in New York and for his recordings with EXTON (OCTAVIA records) in Tokyo. Mr. Drewnowski is the founder and manager of the Hofmann and I.J. Paderewski Festivals in Naleczów, as well as the the famous Chopin Soloists Quintet and Chopin Soloists Orchestra. He acted the role of Frederick Chopin in the movie, "The Chopin's Concert" ("Koncert Chopina") by Krzysztof Zanussi and co-produced the film, "The Fascination of Frederick" ("Oczarowanie Fryderyka") by Izabela Cywinska. Mr. Drewnowski is a professor at the Paris Schola Cantorum and Lódz Academy of Music in Poland and gives master classes all over the world. The coming years (2007-2012) will be devoted to recording the piano concertos and other treasures from the work of Chopin as well as 550 sonatas of the work of Scarlatti. Mr. Drewnowski is also known for his remarkable skills as a conductor. |
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