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Concert Series: Album from Poland

with partner DG Music Club

Join the DG Music Club for a piano recital, Album from Poland, focusing on the mazurka as a central element that encapsulates various forms of Polish folk dances.

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Information About Program

Fryderyik Franviszek Chopin (1810-1849)

Mazurkas op. 7 in B flat major

n. 2 in a minor

n. 3 in f minor

n. 4 in A flag major

n. 5 in C major

op. 17 n. 2 in e minor

n .4 in a minor

op. 33 n. 1 in g sharp minor

n. 4 in b minor

op. 63 n. 3 in c sharp minor

op. 67 n. 2 in g minor

n. 3 in C major

op. 68 n. 3 in F major

Karol Maciej Syzmanowski (1882-1937)

20 Mazurkas op. 50 n. 1, Sostenuto: Molto rubato

n. 2, Allegramente: Poco vivace

n. 3 Moderato

n. 4 Allegramente, risoluto

Information About Music

Piano recital Album from Poland focusing on the mazurka as a central element that encapsulates various forms of Polish folk dances. Through a chronologically designed piano recital program, the work highlights the artistic evolution of the mazurka and its role in preserving Polish national identity. Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin’s, (1810–1849) 59 mazurkas represent the pinnacle of artistic expression, devoid of direct folk melody quotations but imbued with the spirit of Polish music through folk scales, rich melodies, harmonies, tempo rubato, complex technical demands, pedaling, and articulation.

Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937) continues this tradition in his 22 mazurkas (20 from Op. 50 and two from Op. 62), introducing the tonal language of the people of Gorals, syncopated rhythms, modal patterns, precise dynamics, and articulation, while preserving Chopin’s approach of combining multiple dances, sets, and four-voice polyphony. Pieces for this recital were selected to trace a national lineage through the historical and stylistic evolution of the mazurka, contributing to the understanding of Polish musical tradition and its artistic significance.

Information About Performer

Jelena Simonović Kovačević graduated in 1998 from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia, in the Department of Piano Performance under the tutelage of prof. Kemal Gekić. She received her Master's of Arts degree in 2002 from Syracuse University Music School (Syracuse, New York, USA), Department of Piano under the tutelage of prof. Wei-Yi Yang. Three years later, she enrolled in the Master's Program in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Missouri (Columbia, Missouri, USA). She has received master classes with internationally recognized artists, including Naum Shtarkman, Boris Berman, Arbo Valdma, Rita Kinka, Diana Andersen, Ian Jones, Marien Hahn.

She won the Irene Kruker Prize for outstanding results in piano performance, as well as awards at national and international competitions, including Citta di Moncalieri, Italy, the Missouri Music Teachers Association in Columbia, USA, and the Yugoslav Young Pianists Competition in Niš. She participated in pianistic-pedagogical conferences in Orlando (Florida, USA), Austin (Texas, USA) and in Novi Sad at the World Piano Conference. She is a licensed instructor for the Association of Royal Schools of Music (Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music - ABRSM).

She is currently a doctoral student at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad under the mentorship of Professor Kemal Gekić, as well as at the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade. She is employed at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad at the Drama Department, as an Associate Professor.

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