“Stanko pays tribute to trumpet forbears like Miles Davies and Chet Baker in the best way possible: by not drawing upon their repertoire or a particularly fecund artistic period, but by fully absorbing their influences into his own style and playing the very best he can…”., Jazzreview.com. Tomasz Stańko recorded Soul of Things with three young Polish musicians and presented them to the American audiences on his first U.S. tour that started in Washington D.C. on November 3 in Blues Alley. After his performance in Blues Alley, Stanko appeared at New York’s Merkin Hall on November 4 and then he went to Seattle and California. “Stanko’s own playing is as unassuming as ever, his tone often fragile, his melodies almost apologetic in their simple splendor.”                                               Martin Wisckol, The Orange Country Register .

Concert of Szymanowski and Wieniawski

Bin Huan (violin) and Matthew Bengston (piano)- two talented artists gave a unique concert of music of Szymanowski and Wieniawski. Violinist Bin Huang endeared herself to the musical world when she tied with Maxim Vengerov for first prize in the Junior Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Lublin, Poland, at age 14. She again captured the world’s attention by winning both the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa in 1994 and the Munich International Music Competition I Germany in 1999.
The eclectic program of the works of two great Polish musicians, commemorated the 120^th anniversary of Szymanowski’s birth. The performance took place on October 3 and 4 at the Emabssy of the Republic of Poland. The concert was organized by Polish Embassy and a well known Washingtonian Institution - Embassy Series.

Following the successful screening of Quo Vadis by Jerzy Kawalerowicz - a Polish super production of 2001 which was introduced to the Washington audience last spring, Andrzej Wajda’s newest film, Zemsta will be shown at the DC JCC Goldman Theatre this December.
Its Polish premiere took place in Warsaw on September 30, 2002. Zemsta is based on a play written by a romantic comedy writer, Aleksander Fredro. The picture is an interesting transformation of the text, which was originally written for scenic needs to the movie. Among the great Polish actors who are starring in that uncommon production are: Janusz Gajos, Andrzej Seweryn, Katarzyna Figura and two young talented artists: Agata Buzek and Rafal Królikowski. We can also see the famous Polish filmmaker, Roman Polański as Papkin.
Roman Polański will also present himself to the Washington audience in his traditional role of a visionary movie director, whose latest production “The Pianist” won top prize at the 2002 Cannes International Film Festival.
Written by U.K. playwright Ronald Harwood, the screenplay is based on the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman. A composer and pianist, Szpilman played the last live music heard over Polish radio airwaves during the first Nazi artillery attacks in September 1939. At the time of the occupation, Szpilman - a Polish Jew - avoided deportation and remained in the devastated Warsaw ghetto, where he struggled to stay alive.
Polański himself escaped the Cracow ghetto at the age of seven. The Pianist is his most personal statement made after decades and, at the same time, an expression of his belief in the transforming power of art and the triumph of human spirit.
The Washington premiere of Polanski’s new production will take place in December.