March 1, 2013
Dobrzanski presents pioneering work at Athena Festival
Slawomir Dobrzanski, chair of keyboard studies and associate professor of music at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, presented a well-attended lecture and recital titled "Salon Music, Virtuosity and Influence on Future Generations: The Piano Music of Maria Agata Wolowska Szymanowska" at the celebrated Athena Festival at Murray State University, Murray, Ky., Feb. 29-March 1.
The festival is a biennial meeting dedicated to research on women composers and is eagerly attended by noted scholars and performers from around the globe.
Dobrzanski's presentation described his path-breaking academic and artistic efforts aimed at introducing the world to the remarkable talent embodied by the pioneering 19th-century Polish Jewish woman pianist and composer Maria Szymanowska. He has already produced the first English-language biography of Szymanowska, published by the University of Southern California and will be shortly releasing the premiere recording a set of three CDs of the complete piano works composed by Szymanowska.