Deacon’s Blog

There is a slew of PNCC events coming up. Among them are:

1. Saturday, September 6, 1-5pm: 8th Annual Polka Fest, Holy Spirit PNCC at the East Herkimer Fish and Game Club, Pine Grove Rd., East Herkimer, NY.
2. Sunday, September 7, 11am: 31st Annual Harvest Festival/Dożynki, Holy Mother of Sorrows PNCC, 212 Wyoming Ave., Dupont, PA. The blessing of the Harvest Wreath will take place at 2pm.
3. Friday, September 12, 7pm: Blue Mass Our Lord’s Ascension PNCC, 2105 Jennings St., Bethlehem, PA. The Mass honors firefighters, police officers and EMS workers. Emergency personnel are asked to attend in uniform. The victims of 9/11 will also be remembered. A social will follow the Mass. Info: 610-694-0164.
4. Saturday, September 13, 3pm: 90th Anniversary Celebration, Holy Cross PNCC, 534 Woodland Ave., Johnstown, PA.
5. Friday, September 19 - Sunday, September 21: PolishFest 08, Blessed Virgin Mary of Częstochowa PNCC, 250 Maxwell Rd., Latham NY.
6. Friday, September 19 - Sunday, September 21: YMS of R 68 Bi-annual Convention, St. Mary’s PNCC, 5375 Broadview Rd., Parma, OH.
7. Saturday, September 20 - Sunday, September 21: 4th Annual Dożynki Polish Harvest Festival, Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral, 6298 Broadway, Lancaster, NY.
8. Saturday, September 20, 10am: Eastern Diocese SOCL Seminar - Teaching the Sacrament on the Sacrament of the Word of God, St. Joseph’s PNCC, 1300 Stratford Rd., Stratford, CT.
9. Thursday, September 25 - Saturday, September 27: 10th Synod of the Buffalo/Pittsburgh Diocese, All Saints PNCC, 500 Fifth St., Carnegie, PA.
10. Saturday, September 27, 9am - 3pm: Tag Sale and Flea Market, St. Joseph’s PNCC, 1300 Stratford Rd., Stratford, CT.
11. Sunday, September 28, 4pm: Polish National Union of America (Spójnia) 100th Anniversary Holy Mass and Celebratory Dinner, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral, 529 East Locust St., Scranton, PA.
12. Saturday, October 4, 1pm: Blessing of the Animals in honor of the Commemoration of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis PNCC, 1752 Harton Avenue, East Meadow, Long Island, NY.
13. Sunday, October 5, 4pm: Holy Mass and Blessing of the Renovated Church and Reception in honor of the 76th Anniversary of St. Francis Parish. St. Francis PNCC, 1752 Harton Avenue, East Meadow, Long Island, NY.
14. Saturday, October 11, 1pm - 5pm: Homemade Polish Platter Dinner, Holy Trinity PNCC, 619 Center St., Throop, PA.
15. Friday, October 17: 3rd Synod of the Canadian Diocese, Holy Trinity PNCC, 880 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
16. Thursday, October 23 - Saturday, October 25: 10th Synod of the Central Diocese hosted by the Plymouth Seniorate with the theme “To Grow in Faith, Witness and Commitment to Christ.” Holiday Inn, Wikes-Barre, PA.
17. Sunday, October 26, 4pm: Holy Mass of Thanksgiving, 50th Anniversary of the Ordination to the Holy Priesthood of Bishop Thomas J. Gnat, Holy Trinity Cathedral, 166 Pearl St., Manchester, NH.
18. Tuesday, October 28: Central Diocese Clergy Conference, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Cathedral, 529 East Locust St., Scranton, PA.

Experience a bit of Lake George’s Golden Age at the former teaching studio of Metropolitan Opera Diva Marcella Sembrich. Mme. Sembrich was a pianist, violinist, teacher, Polish patriot and benefactor. Mme. Sembrich’s studio is one of the few buildings open to the public from northern New York State’s “Great and Gracious” period.

Mme. Sembrich’s teaching studio was the focal point of the summers she spent at her lakeside mansion, named Bay View. Juilliard and Curtis Institute vocal students sought instruction by the acclaimed Mme. Sembrich in that studio, now a Memorial Museum.

Daily hours from 10am through 12:30pm and 2pm through 5:30pm.

The Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum
Marcella Sembrich Memorial Association, Inc.
4800 Lake Shore Drive
Bolton Landing, NY 12814-0417
Telephone: 518-644-2431 or 518-644-9839

The latest, named “Prayer” from an up-and-coming Polish Jazz artist Karolina Glazer. The song “Prayer” is a solo vocal only. There is no accompaniment. I think she’s remarkable.

Teledysk do utworu “Prayer” Karoliny Glazer from Krzysztof Szopa on Vimeo.

I also like her motto: “If you can’t sing it, improvise it.”

From her MySpace Music profile:

Karlona Glazer was born on June 10, 1982 in Gliwice, Poland. Karolina was brought up within an environment of people involved in art. Her house has always been full of music, dance and plastic arts. She began her adventure with jazz when she was only a teenager, spending time at jam sessions in the Silesian Jazz Club in Gliwice. She was a student of Krystyna Pronko and Anna Serafinska. She also developed her voice during International Workshops in SLS Vocal Technique conducted by American lecturers.

In 2003 she was won a prestigious XXX International Festival Of Jazz Vocalists in Zamość, Poland. It enabled her to continue her musical development and resulted in performances at various concerts in Poland (Smart Jazzpol Festival 2003, Bluse over Bóbr 2004, Gogowskie Spotkania Jazzowe, Pilsner Urquel Jazz 2005, Colours of sound 2006). She has been well received by the critics and journalists (Jazz Forum, Jazzi Magazine). In 2004, according to fusion.pl survey, she classified fourth in popularity ranking (vocalist / vocal group) in Poland. As professionals say: the jazz environment recognizes her as a rising star of Polish jazz vocalism.

Karolina specializes in an instrumental approach to human voice and pays attention to scat improvisation technique. She experiments with her vocals by using her great imagination and a 4-octave scale. Her music is characterized by an improvisational and colourful approach to jazz.

The Ychtis (from the Greek word for fish) Girls Choir, made up of girls from the Katowice area in Poland, will visit Buffalo next week Thursday and Friday.

The group will perform on Friday, July 25 at 7pm in Corpus Christi Church. They will also sing at the Polish Mass at 11:30 am on Thursday.

Admission is free, and free will offerings to benefit the choir will be welcome and appreciated.

The girls of the Ychtis Choir are chosen from families that are not very well to do and are provided an opportunity for professional song and dance training.

Dziewczęcy Zespół Wokalno-Taneczny Ychtis z Katowic wystąpi w kościele Bożego Ciała w Buffalo 25 lipca o godz. 7 wiecz.

Zespół zaśpiewa piosenki oparte na wierszach ks. Jana Twardowskiego

Wstęp wolny

Grupa również zaśpiewa podczas Polskiej mszy św. o 11:30 rano w czwartek 24 lipca

po dalsze informacje, proszę dzwonić do o. Anzelma Chałupki na numer tel. (716) 896-1050.

Ben Myers of Faith and Theology has a post on Sufjan Stevens entitled Theology with Sufjan Stevens: heaven in ordinary.

I got turned on to Sufjan Steven by Huw (I am grateful for that) and have enjoyed him ever since.

I like the breakdown Ben Myers does of “Casimir Pulaski Day.” It is a striking song - painful and hopeful. I would add that outside Illinois Casimir Pulaski Day does not exist as a formal holiday, and is relatively unknown. But in the song as in life, on the holiday, the Holy Day, we find death and hope, death and reassurance. It makes me think that to many God is the non-existent, unknown holiday. He is unknown and unrecognized. Because of that the hopelessness of death is overwhelming - and in the song especially the death of a young person. For those who are cognizant of the unknown, unseen holiday it is different.

A mix of C.S. Lewis’s audio book “Mere Christianity” dubbed over mixes of ambient house, drum n bass and electronica from Aaron Marshall of CHURCHSMO whom I follow on Twitter. This is really cool.

Came across an interesting musical group from the Ukraine - Hydamaky. They do a blend of Ukrainian and Carpathian folk, reggae, and punk. As one friend pointed out to me - you have to suffer a lot to make music like this. Soulful, beautiful. Enjoy.

Karol Szymanowski’s (1882 - 1937) magnificent oratorio, “Stabat Mater,” will be performed Wednesday, April 16 at 8 PM at St. Ignatius Loyola Church (980 Park Avenue, 83 / 84 Streets, Manhattan). Kent Tritle will lead the Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola and soloists in this great work, one of Szymanowski’s towering achievements and one of the outstanding choral works of the twentieth century.

Although it ranks with Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms” and Faure’s “Requiem,” the “Stabat Mater” is rarely performed; the most recent hearing in New York was nearly 20 years ago, and this is a rare chance to hear this wonderful composition. Tickets are $35. Preferred seating is $45, students / seniors $25.

The concert includes Camille Saint-Saen’s monumental “Organ Symphony” (Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 78) and Joseph Jpngens “Hymn for Organ and Orchestra.” At 7 PM, renowned organ virtuoso Ken Cowan, Assistant Professor of Organ at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, performs a pre-concert organ recital featuring music by Widor, Ducasse, Saint-Saëns and Dupre.

Additional information is available at Sacred Music in Sacred Spaces, by E-mail, or by telephone at (212) 288-2520.

Celebrating the 125th Birthday of Poland’s Greatest Modern Composer, Saturday, October 13 at 2pm, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall

Featuring:

The Penderecki String Quartet;
Pianist Anna Kijanowska;
Mezzo Edyta Kulczak (Metropolitan Opera) and Pianist Steven Eldredge and;
Violinist Hanna Lachert (NY Philharmonic) and Pianist Helene Jeanney

The Polish Sejm has declared 2007 the Year of Szymanowski, and the Kosciuszko Foundation is presenting a special concert in his honor, which I am inviting you to attend and support.

Marek Jurek, Speaker of the Sejm, described Szymanowski’s achievements:

After a period of stagnation in Polish music following Chopin’s death, it was he [Szymanowski] who provided it with an invigorating impulse for further development. Today he is recognized as the spiritual father of 20th-century Polish music. He developed his own musical style, introducing elements of folk music, which became a guiding star for generations of Polish composers. Without his output, which has been seeing a huge renaissance over recent decades, Polish music culture would not have achieved a standard that gives it a prominent place in the world.

To mark the 125th birthday anniversary of Poland’s greatest modern composer, the Kosciuszko Foundation will present a “Szymanowski Gala Concert”on Saturday, October 13, at 2 PM, at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.

Renowned Polish artists are featured in a concert of chamber, vocal, and piano solo music giving an overview of Szymanowski’s work. The Penderecki String Quartet will play both of his quartets; mezzo soprano Edyta Kulczak, from the Metropolitan Opera, will sing two groups of songs, including the folk-based “Kurpian Songs”. Folk music from Zakopane was likewise the inspiration for Szymanowski’s Mazurkas, from which Anna Kijanowska will play a group; and violinist Hanna Lachert, of the New York Philharmonic, will perform his Violin Sonata.

Tickets: $ 25 / $15
Special Discounts for KF Members / Students
Information / Reservations / Details: Call the Kosciuszko Foundation 212-734-2130
Concert supported by the Cierpik Szymanowski Fund.

I extend an invitation to PolishFest ‘07 to all of my readers.

PolishFest will be held on the grounds of my parish, the Blessed Virgin Mary of Czestochowa, PNCC, 250 Maxwell Rd., Latham NY 12110 (just outside Albany, Exit 4 off the I-87 Adirondack Northway) beginning at 5pm, Friday, September 21 and continuing through 6pm on Sunday, September 23.

PolishFest includes the Chopin Recital, Polish Craft Vendors, Free Polka Lessons, a Pierogi Eating Contest, Holy Mass, Children’s Games and Craft Activities, Bouncy Bounce, Cooking Demos, Genealogy, Raffles, Bell Jars, Polish Pottery, Amber Jewelry, Kielbasa Sandwich, Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage), Potato Pancakes, Pierogi, Kapusta, Bigos (Hunter Stew), Homemade Polish desserts, Polish Beer, Wine, take-out food and so much more…

More information, including the festival’s entire menu and schedule of events is available at the PolishFest website.

Note: Polka Bands performing this year include: The Rymanowski Brothers, The Mass Brass, The Maestro’s Men, and EFO (The Eddie Forman Orchestra)

Grace Smokowski will be on-hand signing her book “When I Last Saw You.”

Others appearing include a team from the Culinary Institute of America, Director Craig DeBiase, and Genealogist Cecile (Ceil) Wendt Jensen.

You have my heartfelt invitation to attend.

Serdecznie zapraszamy!