The Janusz Prusinowski Kompania is visiting the University of Michigan for one week during the fall of 2015. While on campus, the group will deliver a lecture, facilitate instrumental and dance workshops, and perform two concerts.
EVENTS IN BRIEF:
Monday, Nov 9
5:30-7 pm
Lecture “Mazurek–Musical Language from Another World.” Stern Auditorium, UMMA, 525 S. State St.
*
Tuesday, Nov 10
5-7 pm
Workshop “Instrumental and Vocal Workshop.”
Michigan League Ballroom, 911 N. University.
*
Wednesday, Nov 11
7-9 pm
Concert with Arthur Greene “Secret Key to Chopin–Lost and Found.”
Stern Auditorium, UMMA, 525 S. State St.
*
Thursday, Nov 12
7-9 pm
Concert “Wild Music from the Heart of Poland.”
Rackham Auditorium, 915 E. Washington St.
DETAILED INFO:
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Lecture: Mazurek: Musical Language from Another World
Monday, November 9, 2015
5:30 – 7:00 pm
UMMA Stern Auditorium; 525 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
People living in Central Poland have created songs and dances that express their lives and values. The poetry of the Polish tongue influences and shapes melodies – which are interpreted and improvised by instruments. Dancers turn instrumental melodies into movements, which again changes the music. In this lecture, we will observe the process of creating mazurek as a musical language from archived recordings through the Janusz Prusinowski Kompania’s interpretation.
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Instrumental and Vocal Workshop
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
5:00 – 7:00 pm
MI League Ballroom; 911 N University Ave
Using the fiddle, wind instruments (wood and brass), percussion instruments, the Polish cello, accordion and singing, we will practice playing and singing simple (and sophisticated) mazurka phrases and rhythmical patterns. First we will play as instrumental groups. After learning the basics of improvisation, a crucial part of mazurka music, we will play as a band.
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Concert: Secret Key to Chopin – Lost and Found.
Featuring U-M’s Arthur Greene, Professor of Piano
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
7:00 – 9:00 pm
UMMA Stern Auditorium; 525 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Are there universal “grammatical” rules that connect Frederic Chopin’s mazurkas to Polish traditional music? This concert is a search for practical answers to these questions. We will return to the source of “rubato style” by creating dialogues between instruments and dancers’ steps – and by singing songs that inspired the great Polish composer himself. Perhaps the lost key to Chopin’s music could be found in traditional dances, passed through generations to us, the people of the twenty-first century.
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A CWPS Signature Concert Event: Wild Music from the Heart of Poland
Thursday, November 12, 2015
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Rackham Auditorium; 915 E Washington St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Anyone who has ever been to a village wedding in Poland will remember the intensity of the music, singing and dancing. Swinging songs, melodies and rhythms, simple but sophisticated in its polyrhythms, become visible and clear through the steps and movements of the dancers. This “wild music” carries both the experience of something really ancient yet authentically rooted in the here and now. We would like to share the music we learned from our Village Masters that we love with all our hearts: mazureks, obereks, kujawiaks, wiwats and polonaises – played, sung and danced.
For additional event descriptions, please visit:
ii.umich.edu/cwps/events
Wild Music from the Heart of Poland is part of Campus Project organized by Culture.pl.
This event is co-sponsored by CPPS, Department of Dance, and Culture.pl.
