Prelude to the 100th Anniversary of Poland’s Regaining of Independence

Monday, December 11th 2017 – Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall

Tickets: located in the orcherstra center, include a donation for CAST School support – $85
We also cordially invite you to meet the artists in a nearby restaurant after the concert. Tickets with dinner – $150

Tickets can be ordered at the Nowodworski Foundation tel. 914-260-8178, and by e-mail by sending an order to office@siteNF.org and by sending a check to the Nowodworski Foundation, 18 Central Way, Purdys, NY 10578.

The Nowodworski Foundation would like to thank you cordially for supporting the CAST School project

Thursday, November 30^th, 2017 ● Ars Activa Foundation and Finitor Foundation cordially invite you on December 11^th at 8PM at the Weil Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall, to a concert dedicated to Piłsudski and Paderewski, fathers of the Poland’s Independence in 1918. In this way, they will be inaugurating the New York celebrations of the 100^th Anniversary of the regaining of Independence of Poland. The star of the evening will be Dang Thai Son, winner of the 1980 Chopin Competition.

“A genuine musician” – Isaac Stern. An outstanding international musician of our time, Vietnamese – Canadian pianist Dang Thai Son was propelled to the forefront of the musical world in October 1980, when he was awarded the First Prize and Gold Medal at the Xth International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. It was also the first time that a top international competition was won by an Asian pianist. Since winning the Chopin Competition, his career has taken him to over forty countries. He has worked with Neville Marriner, Pinchas Zukerman, Mariss Jansons, Pavvo Järvi, Frans Brüggen and John Nelson, and with such world-class orchestras as the Czech, St Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw and BBC philharmonic orchestras, the Orchestre de Paris, NHK Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Career highlights have included performances at the Opening Gala Concert of Chopin Year 1999 and the 2005 Chopin Competition. Dang has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, Melodya, Polskie Nagrania, CBS Sony, Analekta, Victor JVC and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.

2017 marks the 150th Anniversary of birth of the main creator of the regaining of Independence – Marshall Józefa Piłsudski. As for Jan Ignacy Paderewski – great pianist and statesman – he was instrumental in obtaining the explicit inclusion of independent Poland as point 13 in Wilson’s peace terms in 1918. In the words of Consul General of the Republic of Poland Maciej Golubiewski „New York is an ideal place to musically honor the actions of two national heroes who contributed to the regaining of Independence of Poland. Thanks to these kinds of initiatives we are popularizing the achievements of Poles amongst the Polish-American Community and Americans, highlighting at the same time our presence in the United States.

The concert’s program will be comprised of works by Polish composers Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) and Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937).

In the first half of the concert:

• F. Chopin – Polonaise in A flat major, op. 53,
• I. J. Paderewski – Violin Sonata in a minor op. 13 oraz
• K. Szymanowski – Myths for violin and piano op. 30.

The second half of the concert will be the recital of Dang Thai Son:

• I. J. Paderewski – Melody G flat major, Nocturne in B flat major, Krakowiak in B flat major
• F. Chopina – Three Mazurkas B flat major op.17 nr 1, f minor op.7 nr 3, c sharp minor op.50 nr 3

Scherzo nr 2 in b flat minor op.31 and Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante op.22

The concert is taking place under the Honorary Patronage of the General Consulate of the Republic of Poland and is part of the celebrations of the Polish Slavic Center 45th Anniversary.

Dang Thai Son about Chopin: “I was born during the war in Vietnam, and when I was very young, we had to evacuate and move into the mountains. There was of course no electricity at the time, and even more difficulties learning music and getting our hands on musical scores. There were all kinds of shortages with respect to materials and information. And there were obviously no concerts and no recordings. This period was totally a kind of darkness. But suddenly, with Chopin, I got very lucky. In 1970, my mother was invited to attend the international Chopin competition in Warsaw as a guest, to simply observe. Being a pianist herself, she brought back from the competition complete scores and sets of recordings of Chopin’s works. The first music I heard in my life, the very first recording, was Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E minor played by Martha Argerich. I was so impressed. I did not have any music of Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven, only that of Chopin. If I think back, when I was maybe eight or nine years old and still living in the mountains, I can remember my first contact with Chopin’s music. I was with my mother, and I read his scores, silently in the dark, using only lit candles. My mother played some short melodies for me – nocturnes and mazurkas. I felt it was all so beautiful and I fell in love with this music. I learned his music day and night, and I could feel Chopin’s music in my blood from then on.”