Culture can be defined as the whole complex ofproducts and human efforts, material and nonmaterial  (i.e. spiritual, symbolic, such as mental and behavioral patterns).

THE DECLARATION OF COMMUNE CULTURE IN THE SPIRIT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT should include the following declarations:

– declaration to implement a progress management system in pursuit of sustainable development;

– declaration to implement public domain annual reports pursuant to GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) recommendations or in a similar form and to have them audited by an independent entity (university, institute, consulting company, etc.);

– declaration to care about safety, including, among others declaration to implement a Commune Energy Center with green energy, declaration to care about the quality of air, water, soil, biodiversity;

– declaration to implement a Commune Database, based on GIS, for strategic and operations management;

– declaration to minimize wastes and apply modern waste disposal methods;

– declaration to implement a commonly available sewerage and water supply system;

– declaration to minimize individual transportation needs and to optimize transportation fleet from the ecological and financial perspective;

– declaration to promote continuous education;

– declaration to support education which appreciates the role of literature, music (art) and physical exercise in development of creative individuals;

– declaration to promote prevention of disease;

– declaration to promote tolerance of cultural diversity;

– declaration to prevent social pathologies;

– declaration to promote changes in consumption patterns (music, art, physical culture are also legitimate consumer goods);

– declaration to increase percentage share of green procurements in the procurement pool;

– declaration to increase percentage share of orders from suppliers who respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Charter of Human Rights;

– declaration to exercise greater care for clients, ergonomics and esthetic impression of the communal office and area of the commune as a whole, cultural heritage and culture of employees;

– declaration to initiate changes in education, health care, business, society, non-governmental organizations, in political life, and in the media in the direction of sustainable development.

Signed by the Head/Mayor/President of the City/Town

ZR/SD Manager: sustainable development manager is a manager who through her or his activity and impact on the employees has managed to:

– formulate with her or his employees a vision statement concerning the development of the given organizational unit in the specified remote future, a vision in which economic development goes hand in hand with respect to the environment and the society,

–  transfer the vision statement into a strategy of sustainable development and main strategy in a way which:

– enables them to control its implementation;

– ensures alignment of the form and goals with strategies of higher levels of administration, up to the EU;

– adjust planning and operation management system to reporting progress in pursuit of sustainable development;

– develop and implement a declaration of culture of the organization in the spirit of sustainable development;

– provide an atmosphere in which employees are encouraged to question status quo and to take risk;

– develop employee’s imagination and spirituality and to motivate them to continuous education;

– stimulate employee’s creativity.

By her or his activity they stimulate development of innovative products/services which deserve to be called sustainable development products/services. SD Manager supports cultural, health and educational projects.

“Gmina ZR/SD”  stands for ” zrównoważonego rozwoju” / sustainable development commune. In Polish “sustainable development” means “zrównoważony rozwój”.

Commune can be called a sustainable development commune if:

– in its vision statement it has included economical development in the specified remote future, along with respect to the world environment and needs of people on the world,

– and has transformed such a vision into a strategy of sustainable development in a manner which ensures control of its implementation,

– while its planning and operation management system has been adapted to reporting progress in pursuit of sustainable development,

– the strategy has been harmonised with EU strategy, national and local sustainable development strategies,

– it has developed and announced a declaration of the culture of sustainable development.

“Culture is all the dreams and labour tending towards forging humanity (…)” Denis de Rougemont

Business, not only the one from the cultural sector, through its actions contributes to the development of culture.

Below you will find some quotations from the Communication on a European agenda for culture in a globalizing world COM(2007) 242:

“Culture lies at the heart of human development and civilisation. Culture is what makes people hope and dream, by stimulating our senses and offering new ways of looking at reality. It is what brings people together, by stirring dialogue and arousing passions, in a way that unites rather than divides. Culture should be regarded as a set of distinctive spiritual and material traits that characterize a society and social group. It embraces literature and arts as well as ways of life, value systems, traditions and beliefs.(…)

(…)culture is an indispensable feature to achieve the EU’s strategic objectives of prosperity, solidarity and security(…)

(…)There is a strong link between the promotion of culture and creativity and EU (…)legislation(…)

(…)the Commission wishes to make 2009 a European Year of Creativity and Innovation(…)

(…)OBJECTIVES FOR A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR CULTURE: …three interrelated(…)

– promotion of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue;

-promotion of culture as a catalyst for creativity in the framework of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs;

– promotion of culture as a vital element in the Union’s international relations.(…)

(…)”Intelligence is programmed for the creation of differences.” Francesco Alberoni

(…)Creativity is the basis for social and technological innovation, and therefore an important driver of growth, competitiveness and jobs(…)

(…)”Culture is not a luxury, but a necessity.” Gao Xingjian

(…)” end of quotations

Development of a Declaration of Culture by a given organizational unit in the spirit of sustainable development is important.

Do we need a stick to motivate us for any changes? Is a penalty on the horizon the only thing that matters?…

Today I heard that a businessperson is interested in palpable, definite things, like numbers, not in philosophy… Well, it’s nothing new, I heard it from students of Polish technical universities, while studying theoretical physics…

I do not question someone’s need of perception of reality through numbers, but I cannot agree with a concept that a change in management methods must be implemented through fines only…

We have not harmonized the Polish sustainable development strategy with the EU, and, at least so far, we do not face a fine, but is it a reason to be complacent about the status quo?…

The so called amended Gothenburg Strategy (SDS) is written in a concise style, which facilitates putting it into practice through various programs or plans. The provisions of this strategy state that the member states were to harmonize their sustainable development strategies with the SDS. What is more, they should do it in a cascade-like, downward mode, reaching the level of enterprises…

Do we really feel to be members of the EU, or do we just want to take advantage of the EU funds?

The businessman I talked to claims that when Poland faces a penalty, we may hope for a document harmonized with the EU, that local authorities harmonize or write their own sustainable development strategies in forms consistent with the provisions of SDS and national strategy, and that the world of business will follow the path…

Polish business starts to use the Internet for announcing its strategies of sustainable development…

Some countries, through the Internet and other media, published their indicators of sustainable development and their goals in that direction. Do we have such indicators and goals adopted for Poland? Is it being discussed by the media? Does sustainable development deserve attention of the media?…

In my opinion a problem of implementation of green public procurements depends among other things, or perhaps mainly, on the lack of positive political climate for the cause of sustainable development. How often local authorities associate the matter of sustainable development only with environmental protection… They forget that there are three pillars of sustainable development, namely, economy, society and the environment.

Walking along the path of sustainable development also involves development of voluntary initiatives, which often reach farther than the requirements of law. So, rather than the awareness of penalty, it involves awareness of the need of our times, global thinking, interaction of fully aware stakeholders. Change in awareness…

When I initiate a discussion on sustainable development with businessmen, I often recognize a similar mocking or irritated undertone in the response: “…. do you really know what business is?”

And I dare say, I know, after years of work as a manager and consultant. I know it enough to understand the hint of mockery or irritation, and enough – to question the notion that the term “sustainable development company” is not justified in the real world.

True, it is easier to consider implementation of beautiful theories in the atmosphere free from financial worries, when we do not need to fret about the survival of a company on the market. Let us not forget, however, there is a risk lurking in short-sighted plans too…

21st century is a century of sustainable development. In July, 2008, the European Commission published the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan COM(2008) 397. Currently, the first version of the document “THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION ACTION PROGRAM FOR 2008-2011” undergoes the process of public consultation. Up to December 12, 2008 everybody may suggest amendments to it.

Reading the aforementioned document by the European Commission and the draft plan prepared by our Ministry of Economy, I have an impression that beautiful ideas are being implemented right now. In 1998, Ray. C. Anderson published in the USA his “Mid-Course Correction. Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface Model” book.  One can find there a beautifully described model of a sustainable development enterprise.

Solutions in the documents on strategy by the EU and in those being prepared by our Ministry of Economy resemble this model very much…

Last year, a number of companies which crop up increased significantly when we enter the following terms, in Polish or in English, in the Google search engine:

Odpowiedzialny biznes (responsible business),

Zrównoważony rozwój (sustainable development),

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility),

Ethical Corporation,

Accountability.

This is really encouraging, especially, if apart from expressing it in words and announcing on the Internet, an organizational unit decides to put the sustainable development strategy into actual plans of action, integrating it into its entire internal management system and using it during cooperation with customers or partners.

It is a shame, however, that only the media dealing with environmental protection write about this.

In Poland, the Ministry of Economy is currently the leader in implementing sustainable development. There is still no person who would act as a coordinator managing sustainable development of Poland at the level of the government of the Republic of Poland.

To the main measurable goals of the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Poland to 2025 belong maintaining about 5% economic growth and, as a target value, four times increase in efficiency of utilization of raw materials, fuels, and natural resources.

Among other things, we do not have any specified goals for reduction of CO2 in the aforementioned document…, but we organize COP14.

Business in Poland, regardless of the political parties in power, has a chance to put the principles of sustainable development into practice.

The 19th century was a century of industry, the 20th – belonged to science and computer technology, but the 21st century, experts say, will be a century when the needs of various communities and respect to the natural environment will be incorporated into business.

Last year CSR even managed to become part of the governmental policy in several countries in Europe and around the world. Governments of many countries have appreciated the role of corporate social responsibility.  A discussion on the new role of business in society has been in progress.

In July, 2008, the COM(2008) 397 document was published, namely, the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan.

As early as in 2006, the Commission issued the COM(2006) 136 document, i.e. a Communication on Making Europe a Pole of Excellence on Corporate Social Responsibility.

We need good quality air to live. Read more

 “… a dazzling violinist..” in the words of Herman Trotter (High Fidelity Magazine)

Master Class, Minturno, Italy 14-18 July 2009  – registration up to 15 May2009 

Veronica Schreiber Kadlubkiewicz graduated with highest honors of the Warsaw Academy of Music in Poland and continued her studies in the USA with Henryk Szeryng, Roman Totenberg and Paul Zukofsky. Finalist of the Alberto Curci Competition in Naples, Italy, she received a special award from the Rockefeller Competition for Excellence in American Music in Washington D.C. Ms. Kadlubkiewicz has appeared as soloist with orchestras in the USA, Poland, Italy and Spain. She has also frequently performed at such festivals as Marlboro Music, Bach Aria Festival, Monadnock Music, Estatedi Radicondoli, Musica Electronica Nova and Warsaw Autumn Festival. An avid performer of solo violin recitals sought out for her interpretations of contemporary music, each year she premieres new compositions written for her. She was a participant in the Sommerkurs fur Neue Musik in Darmstadt and a member of Creative Associates in Buffalo, NY.
Formerly concertmaster of the Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and the New Hampshire Symphony, Veronica Kadlubkiewicz has also played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Camerata. She taught violin and chamber music at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Smith College and Amherst College.
Ms. Kadlubkiewicz now resides in Paris, France where she has appeared at Salle Cortot; Ecole Normale Supérieure, rue d’Ulm; St. Julien le Pauvre; and Eglise de Trinité among others. Last season she performed in Italy, the USA, Poland, France and premiered compositions by Francois Nicolas, Salvatore Macchia and Beatriz Ferreyra, all written for her. The season 08/09 will see her giving many “all Bach” presentations of his solo violin works, the Concerto by Philip Glass as well as piano-violin recitals.
Ms. Kadlubkiewicz has recorded for Gasparo and CRI labels, Polish Radio, and WDR in Germany.

Concert pianist, professor of piano, juror of piano competitions. Throughout her life music has been the central focus and inspiration. Conveying its inherent contents and emotions she considers her life mission fulfilled by performing and teaching. Maria Szraiber is also interested in various questions concerning both the composer’s work and its interpretation potential in the field of the piano literature as well as in the history of piano playing. She also devotes some of her time to the matters of the teaching process organization at the different levels of music education.

Born in Silesia Maria Szraiber there began the piano education leading her to the graduation from the Music Academy in Katowice.

Her teachers were: Wanda Chmielowska, heir of the famous piano school of T. Leschetizky and Bolesław Woytowicz, heir of the pure F. Chopin tradition, through Karol Mikuli, F. Chopin’s pupil. Maria Szraiber’s piano studies were completed at the famed P. Tchaykowsky Conservatory in Moscow where she worked under the guidance of Tatiana Nikolajeva and Rudolf Kerer, both well known representatives of the Russian school of piano playing.

Maria Szraiber has performed in concert halls throughout Poland and most of Europe, as well as in the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.
She has made many recordings. Playing the wide repertoire she is particularly associated with the music of Chopin and Debussy as well as with many works from the rich Polish piano  literature. Some of her concerts have been enriched by her own comments.

Maria Szraiber often gives concerts in the places connected with Fryderyk Chopin, like Żelazowa Wola, the place of his birth, under the composer’s monument in the Łazienki Park in Warsaw and others.
In addition to performing Maria Szraiber loves to teach. She is a full professor at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw where she was also elected dean of the Department of Piano, Harpsichord and Organ and was as well head of the Piano Chair.

For many years Maria Szraiber has been conducting master classes and giving lectures in Poland and abroad. She has sat on the jury of a number of piano competitions. In line with her interest in the history of piano playing she has been presenting a series of concert-lectures and reminiscences entitled “Nestors of Polish Piano Pianistics”. As a result of the series a two volume publication appeared under the same title including biographies and reminiscences devoted to Zbigniew Drzewiecki, Jerzy Lefeld, Aleksander Michałowski, Stanisław Szpinalski, Józef Śmidowicz, Margerita Trombini-Kazuro, Józef Turczyński, Maria Wiłkomirska and Jerzy Żurawlew. The book, published also in English, is accompanied by CDs with the recordings of the presented pianists.

Maria Szraiber’s  interest in teaching led her to prepare a large monograph On Educating the Artist-Performer at the College Level of Piano Studies (AMFC, Research Bulletin no. 44, Warsaw, 1999).
Studying and interpreting the literature for the piano as well as artistic activities of great composers are sources of inspiration for her writings and lectures. Here are a few examples:

• The Waltz. The Road to Artistic Stylisation in the Work of F. Chopin – an article contributed to “Fuga” (2001 no. 4),
• C. Debussy – composer of piano music and pianist (Gdańsk Music Academy, Research Bulletin “Piano Music”, Gdańsk 2004);
• Polish Piano Playing Tradition. The Leschetizky heritage in the rich history of Polish XXth century pianistics and piano pedagogy (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien 2006);
• T.Leschetizky – great teacher of pianists (Gdańsk Music Academy, Research Bulletin “Piano Music”, Gdańsk 2007);
• lectures and comprehensive talks accompanying specially profiled concerts, e.g.:

• o F. Chopin’s waltzes – The peak achievement of artistic stylisation of dance;
• o Polish pianists of international renown at the turn of the XXth century;
• o Polish piano music in the Chopin circle (1999);
• o Edward Grieg – composer, pianist, conductor (1997);
• o Grażyna Bacewicz – the universal musician.

Maria Szraiber has always been deeply concerned about the organization of music education at all levels. During her long term as dean she launched various initiatives in the search for the optimal syllabus for music universities. She also serves as an expert advisor for the Ministry of National Education.

1. Your company Wanda Pazdan is a very original idea for business, at least in Opole. Why you, a recognized international expert in environment protection, a person who shouldn’t complain for lack of funds, made such a decision?

I must admit that EU projects, the so called international ones, provide remuneration that exceeds average salary in Poland several times. However, throughout my life money was not the only motivation for work. That is why, despite many interesting offers, after the Bosnia&Herzegovina project I firmly rejected participation in projects in foreign countries. One of the reasons was to prove to myself and to other major European experts that a reliable implementation of ideas I had been preoccupied with for years, calls for the change of principles of data collection by EUROSTAT and, of course, by our Central Statistical Office. I am not sure if I live long enough to see those changes… Although good sustainable development management also requires changes in European and Polish statistics procedure, I had some additional, private reasons. My second granddaughter was born. I just want to spend more time with children. I have been interested in sustainable development issues for years but my interest in music comes from my home.

2. Sustainable development – something people talk about a lot, as it seems an obligatory approach to the subject, but not much is actually being done. Why is this idea so important for you?

You mean an obligatory approach to the subject of EU funds. You put it well… I think that the idea of sustainable development is beautiful and implementation of its principles may result in economic and social boom and all this can be accomplished respecting the nature and other elements of the environment. Support for implementation of sustainable development is my company mission. I am aware of discrepancy between great scientific achievements in Poland on the subject of sustainable development and transfer of those achievements into implementation. I was a member of the “Man and the Environment” Committee affiliated with the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Science.

The notion itself may seem a little scary and its translation into Polish does not sound too good, but this is the official translation of the term. Today it appeals more to the public that environmental protection is important, that you can profit from it, that investments in this area made now will bring satisfying results if we give it enough time. And the same can be said about investments in human capital. We have an opportunity to implement projects in this regard but implementation of sustainable development means more. First, it requires development of common vision, e.g. vision of the region, with taking into consideration the provisions of the overriding strategies. In the EU New Sustainable Development Strategy, published in 2006, we read: “Sustainable development means that the needs of current generations will not limit implementation of the needs of future generations. This is the superior goal established in the Treaty on European Union which governs the European Union politicians and activities. It implies protection of the Earth, its ability to sustain varied forms of living things. It is based on principles of democracy, gender equality, solidarity, respect for the principles of law and fundamental rights, such as freedom and equal opportunity for all. Its objective is continuous improvement of the quality of life and prosperity on earth of the present and future generations. Moreover, it contributes to economic development, with full employment, high level of education, healthcare, social and territorial cohesion and environment protection, in the world full of peace and security, respecting cultural diversity.” [retranslated from Polish]  It means, among others, implementation of green orders, forming attitudes of consumers, who by their behavior force changes in production, services and products for consumption. It may even imply modification of the tax system which as a result provides preferences for the production and services complying with the sustainable development strategy, it is modification of the education system, lack of unemployment. It is dynamic economic development, high level of education, common care and respect for health and common prevention of disease and social pathologies, territorial and social cohesion, safe and peaceful world. It involves bigger participation in social life, formation of small but strong social groups which respect cultural diversity, formation and implementation of patterns that promote development of an individual who is assessed not only on the basis of material possessions, etc. It is here where the media, advertisement and organizations of other type can play a huge role.

In Poland, the document called the National Development Strategy is in practice treated as the most important, major document on development. It is indispensable and very important as in the current programming period it is one of significant prerequisites for obtaining EU funds. Preparations are under way, however, to the next fund programming period… I think that in our circumstances and with current provisions of the Polish Constitution, the sustainable development strategy should be the main planning document. The EU New Sustainable Development Strategy is the framework in which the New Lisbon Strategy is only what drives the economy and prevents unemployment.

3. In the description of your company you mentioned emotions. How to associate emotions with implementation of sustainable development?

Implementation of sustainable development implies, for a given period, creation of a common vision of the future, formation of sustainable development strategy, then its implementation, monitoring and modification. On all these stages of implementation of sustainable development, the way of thinking, behavior, emotions and motivation of an individual play an important role.  We can say that a person’s life consists of physical, mental and emotional spheres. Emotional sphere serves as an intermediary between physical and mental spheres, regardless which one of them initiates the first impulse. Human being as an organism acts and develops in a specific environment. There is a close relationship between him and the world around him. Emotions are the way we relate to the surrounding stimuli, information. The sustainable development strategy, established through social effort, includes measurable goals and tasks in itself. Their implementation is largely dependent on the motivation of each inhabitant of a given area, as during implementation of sustainable development, interaction between people and business, social and administrative entities is a significant factor.

Secondary emotions are emotions developed on the basis of personal inclinations together with some experience gained through our life. That is why the Committee of the Regions calls for education about sustainable development starting at the day or child care center level… Culture marks out trends of thinking and, as a result, impressions of individual persons result in the so called secondary emotion, as distinguished from primary emotion, in which automatism plays the major role.  Emotions related to sustainable development, motivations of individual organizational entities, as well as inhabitants of a given area depend on the way local authorities form the sustainable development strategy, the way they promote it and on the quality of engagement of culture and education.

“Of all my students, Magda plays in the most beautiful way…” – that is how Tadeusz Wroński, a longtime professor of the Academy of Music in Warsaw, one of the greatest and most versatile of Polish teachers of the art of violin playing, used to say about Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska. The artist proved that opinion was justified by winning a number of such reputable international violin competitions as Queen Elisabeth of Belgium in Brussels, Jacque Thibaud in Paris or Karl Flesch in London. She also won medals at the Biennale in Bordeaux and, together with her string quartet, in Budapest.

Born in Bydgoszcz, in a known family of musicians, she graduated from the Academy with honors, being a student of Professor Wroński and of closely cooperating with him Stanisław Kawalla. As a soloist, she takes part in symphony and chamber concerts and performs recitals in almost all European countries, but also in the USA, Mongolia and South Korea. Her performance was often recorded for the radio and television in Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, West Germany, Belgium and France. Her repertoire includes over 30 concertos with orchestra and 20 recitals. She was a concertmistress of the “National Philharmonic Chamber Musicians” orchestra of Karol Teutsch, performing many solo concertos with it; currently she also takes part in chamber concertos in Germany and Switzerland, cooperating with excellent instrumentalists, such as “Freiburger Barock Solisten.”

Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska, following the steps of her professors, is an excellent educator – for many years she led a violin class in her home Warsaw university, and since 1991 she has been a professor in the renown Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg (Germany). Her graduates are members of symphony orchestras in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hamburg, Detmold, Freiburg, Warsaw, Budapest, Zurich, Istanbul, Seoul, Tokyo and of the International Mahler Orchestra. She conducts master courses in Germany, Poland, South Korea, Japan, Austria and the USA. She is a jury member of violin competitions in Poland and abroad.

Her latest CD “Con bravura e sentimento” with Polish virtuoso music for solo violin, recorded with her husband, a well known conductor Maciej Niesiołowski, gained wide attention and admiration. Wanda Wiłkomirska wrote about it in the letter to performers: “…congratulations both for the idea and for performance….Magda’s performance is unusually delightful…You play Wieniawski Polonaise better than all the candidates for the Wieniawski Competition put together…Scherzo-Tarantella sounds perfect, but to be effective it must be played with such rhythmic precision and such fantastic accompaniment as you do…”

For the last few years (2005-2007) Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska has performed mainly in Germany – a lot of recitals of diverse scope, such as a solo recital (with sonatas of Bach, Bartók, Bacewiczówna, Ysaÿe and Meyer), all Beethoven’s sonatas, recitals of Polish music and other. Moreover, together with recognized artists, she took part in many concerts of chamber music with orchestras in Poland, Switzerland and Germany. Recently, with “Capella Bydgostiensis,” she performed Mozart concertos in Germany. With the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, she played a violin concerto of Krzysztof Meyer and with Juliusz Berger – concerto for violin and violoncello of the same composer.

Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska – pearl from Poland  “…The chance to admire of a Polish virtuoso of this class does not happen too often in Chicago. A virtual pearl from Poland! We thank you for that concert….”    Dziennik Związkowy (Polish Daily News), Chicago April 9, 2004.

37th Poznań Musical Spring Festival
“…Comprehensive perfection of this piece (Espressioni Varianti of Tadeusz Baerd) was connected with the orchestra’s high level of performance and fascinating, as far as technique and expression is concerned, playing by a soloist Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska…”  Tadeusz Szantruczek Ruch Muzyczny, December, 2002

In the best style
“… She plays Bach in the way the greatest masters played him…”              Ludwik Erhard Ruch Muzyczny April 15, 2001                            

Great violin solo. Concert in Hochschule fuer Musik in Freiburg, performed by Magdalena Rezler
“Magdalena Rezler did not take the easy way out during the evening solo program in the Chamber Hall of the University. From the very first to the last minute, from Bach’s Sonata No.1 till Ysaÿe’s ballad, the concert was dominated by virtuosity of the violin player…
The technique of playing justifies comparison of the concerto to a hurdle race. The Freiburg professor did not give the audience any rest periods, performing in a masterful, commanding respect way…                 Badische Zeitung. June 5, 2001

“…Magdalena Rezler’s violin sounds very beautiful, with sincerity and great power to persuade. This typical East European sound matched perfectly Bach’s Sonata. Her music was like a fervent prayer, personal communication with God. Ysaÿe’s solo sonata was played with  astonishing virtuosity, and in the “Arethusa´s Fountain” the artist, together with the pianist Naoko Matsumoto,  conjured up a mystic atmosphere. The concert, crowned with performing Ravel’s “Tzigane” and Elgar’s “The Snow,” proved to be a great success of the violinist.”               Tokyo, November 28, 2001

“…Fascinating lightness of playing!
Inspiring performance and the skill to explore the lyric nature of contrasting fragments of Strauss’ sonata…” Badische Zeitung December 12, 2001

“…The soloist of the evening, presenting herself in Concerto A minor, was a violinist of Polish origin, Magdalena Rezler, professor of Freiburg University of Music. She enriched her interpretation by powerful momentum and, at the same time, flexibility of sounds, which inspired the orchestra to perform with even stronger emotion…”          Darmstädter Echo  December 13, 2000

Summer meetings in Radziejowice
“…Experts on music sitting among the audience admired Magdalena Rezler’s craftsmanship and control of the violin and her interesting interpretation of Romance, Krakowiak (Cracovienne), Burlesque or all three Wieniawski’s pieces that she played. … Only real virtuosi are capable of playing like this. The audience recognized it instantly. Thunderous applause and several encores were the result …                          August 16, 2000                

“…In solo parts of popular around the world violin compositions, this time we had an opportunity to listen to the famous Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska. Bach violin Concerto in A minor in the violinist’s interpretation was first of all intriguing by its sound quality. …, virtuoso Rondo capricioso of Camille Saint-Saëns, full to the brim with Spanish fiery enthusiasm, fully highlighted the violinist’s brilliant craftsmanship, so impressive due to sparkling figurations, especially extraordinary flexibility in the use of the bow…” Katarzyna Kaczmarczyk     Gazeta Wyborcza, Opole    October 9, 2000

POLISH DAYS – CONCERT IN “KLEINE MUSIKHALLE” IN HAMBURG
“…the superiority with which the charming Pole conjured up such a composition as Ravel’s “Tzigane.” It was equally astonishing with what self-restraint she immersed herself in the beauties of Beethoven’s Sonata… rich artistic maturity and devilish virtuosity in the caprices of Paganini and Polonaise of Wieniawski kept one in constant suspense…”
Hamburger Abendblatt

It was a concert that filled the audience with wonder, which then broke into frantic applause – not a common view among the people of the North, usually reserved in their manner. Playing translates into presenting something extraordinary – nobody could prove it better that than the Warsaw violinist Magdalena Rezler. “Super-musical” to the bone, M.R. plays with her whole body, and while playing she reads aloud the whole intensity of her interpretations. To listen and see how this Pole plays – is a real pleasure!                                                              Cuxhavener Nachrichten

Extraordinary concert of the Dresden Philharmonic
“…It was followed by Beethoven violin concerto in D major performed by a Polish violinist Magdalena Rezler, quite familiar to the audience due to her many performances and having a faithful group of local listeners. After compositions of Karłowicz, Bacewicz and Viotti, it was her most ambitious challenge. The way she met it commands sincere respect. Her mind concentration and excellent control with which she performed were almost palpable when she was getting out of it all forms and content that so much distinguish it. On the other hand, the intensity of her playing was remarkable, and the same could be said about savoring many lyric fragments – all the time maintaining enviable lightness of sound. Vigorous presentation of the dramatic events of the composition was also remarkable. …”                         Saechsische Neueste Nachrichten

…her cultured, free of any trace of exaltation interpretation of Mendelssohn concerto and excellent performance of Ysaÿe’s Ballad as an encore offered hope that organizers of musical life in Silesia will remember about this soloist more often in the future.                             Gazeta Robotnicza, Wrocław

Wydawca: Universal Music Polska ACD 111-2
CON BRAVURA e SENTIMENTO
Polska muzyka wirtuozowska
Andrzejowski, Chopin, Statkowski, Wieniawski, Zarzycki
Opracowanie na skrzypce i orkiestrę ARNOLD REZLER
Magdalena Rezler-Niesiołowska skrzypce
SINFONIETTA BYDGOSTIENSIS
Maciej Niesiołowski dyrygent

PROPOZYCJE PROGRAMÓW RECITALI

I

J. BRAHMS 3 Sonaty na fortepian i skrzypce
G-dur op.78 ca 25′
A-dur op.100 ca 18′
d-moll op.108 ca 20′
całość z przerwą ok. 100 minut

II

MOZART – BEETHOVEN – BRAHMS
Wieczór sonat na skrzypce i fortepian

III

WIECZÓR SONAT ROMANTYCZNYCH na skrzypce i fortepian

F. Mendelssohn – Sonata F-dur
E. Grieg – Sonata c-moll
C. Franck – Sonata A-dur z przerwą ok. 120 min.

IV

HITY MUZYKI FRANCUSKIEJ na skrzypce i fortepian

C. Franck Sonata A-dur
C. Saint-Saens Introdukcja i Rondo-Capriccioso
E. Chausson Poem
M. Ravel Tzigane

V

KONCERT BISÓW

Przykład programu:

A. Dvorak Humoreska
A. Chaczaturian Maskarada
K. Bohm Gavot
C. Debussy Minstrels
H. Wieniawski Polonaise
Legenda
Kujawiak
J. Massenet Thais
J. Suk 4 Utwory
D. Szostakowicz 4 Preludia
R. Statkowski Mazurek
Kujawiak
A. Andrzejowski Burleska

Program można dowolnie wymieniać, wydłużać lub skracać
Przeciętny czas koncertu (z przerwą) ok. 100-110 minut

VI

MUZYKA POLSKA na skrzypce i fortepian

J. Paderewski Sonata
K. Szymanowski Sonata
A. Zarzycki Romans
Mazurek
H. Wieniawski Scherzo-Tarantella
Legenda
Polonaise A-dur

Albo

J. Paderewski Sonata
K. Szymanowski Mity
Nokturn i Tarantela
W. Lutosławski Partita

Programy można dowolnie wymieniać.
Przeciętny czas koncertu (z przerwą) 100 do 120 minut

VII

DUET SKRZYPCOWY
MUZYKA POLSKA i NIEMIECKA

Wyk.: Magdalena Rezler Niesiołowska
Adam Niesiołowski

Program:

G. Ph. Telemann Sonata kanoniczna G-dur na dwoje skrzypiec
J. S. Bach Chaccona d- moll na skrzypce solo
J. Spohr Duet Es-dur op.3

F. Janiewicz Divertimento na 2 skrzypiec
G. Bacewicz Sonata na skrzypce solo
H. Wieniawski Kaprys op.18 nr 2 na dwoje skrzypiec
G. Bacewicz Suita na dwoje skrzypiec

VIII

MUZYKA XX WIEKU na skrzypce i fortepian

P. Hindemith Sonata Es-dur op.11 nr.1
S. Prokofiew Sonata D-dur op. 94a
G. Bacewicz Sonata nr.4
W. Lutosławski Partita

IX

DZISIEJSZA MUZYKA POLSKA na skrzypce i fortepian

K. Meyer Sonata na skrzypce solo
Misterioso op. 93 na skrzypce i fortepian
R. Twardowski Capriccio In Blue
Niggunim
A. Tansman Cinq Pieces
H. M. Górecki Variazioni

PROPONOWANE UTWORY Z ORKIESTRĄ

KONCERTY:
Bach Koncerty E-dur i a-moll Vivaldi Cztery pory Roku
Mozart – wszystkie koncerty
Beethoven – D-dur
Mendelssohn e-moll
Lalo (Symphonie espagnole)
Wieniawski – d-moll
Brahms – D -dur
a-moll (na skrzypce i wiolonczelę) Sibelius -d-moll
Bruch – g-moll
S. Prokofiew – g-moll
Karłowicz A-dur
Szymanowski – nr.1 i nr.2
Meyer – nr. 2
na skrzypce i wiolonczelę

INNE UTWORY:

Beethoven – Romanse
Chausson – Poem
Ravel – Tzigane
Saint-Saens – Introdukcja i Rondo Capriccioso op.28
– Havanaise op.83
Baird – Espressioni Varianti
Lutosławski – Partita

OPRACOWANIA NA SKRZYPCE Z ORKIESTRA
ARNOLDA REZLERA:

Kreisler – Kaprys Wiedeński
– Radość Miłości
Wieniawski – Polonez A-Dur op.21
– Scherzo-Tarantella op.16
– Legenda op.17
– Walc-Kaprys op.7
– Kujawiak
– Pieśń Polska op.12
Zarzycki – Mazurek G-Dur op.26
– Romans op.16
Andrzejowski – Burleska
Statkowski -Krakowiak op.7
Chopin – Grande Valse a-Moll op.34
– Valse h-Moll op.69
– Nokturn cis- Moll op.posth

Soon,  Al Gor and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established 19 years ago, will receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee justified granting the Prize as follows: “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”

This fact awakens in me some reflections and memories.
Sixteen years ago, for the first time in my work, I used the IPCC guidelines.  At that time I used working materials to the first copy of IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. In 1993 and 1994, I led the national air emission inventory CORINAIR’90, under the agreement between ATMOTERM S.C. company and the European Commissions Environmental Directorate General (DGXI). It was implementation of a new methodology of air emission inventory-a big challenge for me and for my company involving huge satisfaction from the performed work.

It was a nongovernmental air emission inventory and included 8 groups of gases. Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions inventory was to be compiled according to the IPCC methodology, other gases – according to the UNECE-CORINAIR methodology. The air emission inventory proved to be the first one comparable to those compiled in other countries. Twenty nine European countries participated in the project. The European Commission regarded Poland CORINAIR’90 as one o the best inventories compiled in Europe. In Opole, on the premises of ATMOTERM S.C. company, I organized a Seminar with participation of representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection, state scientific institutes and Polish research units which took up the issues of air emissions at the request of the Ministry of the Environment. During the Seminar I defended the results of the inventory. Upon such approval, I sent the report to the European Commission and my company published it in a book form under the auspices of the Ministry of the Environment. The table with the inventory results was for several years published by the Central Statistical Office. The Ministry used the results of the paper in the Governmental Report for the First Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP1). The CORINAIR’90 report received “The Best Product of the Opole Region”award in 1994.
I took part in the UN Task Force On Emissions Inventories and Projections (TFEIP UNECE). During the years 1994 to 1996, within ATMOTERM company, I participated in the Phare project Design of the System of Transferable Emission Permits and Implementation of the Pilot Project in Poland. Some of the solutions in the project suggested by me are implemented in the current European CO2 emission trading. Between 1998 and 2000, within ATMOTERM sp. z o.o. company, I led an international project Phare Topic Link on Air Emission (PTL-AE). Its main objective was analysis of the situation and technical assistance in 13 Central European states seeking accession to the EU, preparation of data from those countries in the format required for the reports of the European Environment Agency (EEA). The work, among others, was related to greenhouse gases and IPCC methodology. It involved cooperation with the EEA, ETC/AE and its network EIONET. In 2000, as a eader of Phare Topic Link on Air Emission, I took part in the meeting of IPCC experts in the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, where I talked on the subject “Achievements in the field of emission factors.” One of the main goals of my report was to convince the listeners that plants which manufacture the same goods, have different emissions per production unit. At that time, that was a new idea for many experts, not only those from Third World nations.  From 2004 to 2006, I worked in the EU project “Support to Air Monitoring,” in Bosnia&Herzegovina, dealing also with the issues of emission inventory, including IPCC methodology. I proved that current statistical data practice involved in EUROSTAT, and consequently, in the Central Statistical Office, should be changed, if we want to have good quality emission estimates at the country level. The principles of statistical data collection do not keep up with changes in economy. The development of small and medium-sized businesses did not bring parallel changes in the statistical system.
Reduction of CO2 emissions is one of the main, joint efforts in the EU and may prove to stimulate new technologies and behaviors.
The next conference of the countries which are the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC (COP), will be held in December, this time in Bali.

In 2007, Nobel Peace Prize winner organized Live Earth concerts, a series of musical events for the purpose of drawing more attention to the greenhouse effect and growing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. Global warming will contribute to even more intensive heat waves and devastating droughts in some regions (e.g. in southern Europe or northern Africa), and floods in other areas (like northern Europe or southeast Asia), as well as melting glaciers, rising sea levels, stronger and more frequent gales, thunderstorms or tornadoes. The IPCC Panel confirmed with over 90 percent probability that by developing industry we cause overheating the Earth.
The press reveals Al Gore’s high bills for electricity suggesting that the Nobel winner should probably apply the principle “physician, heal thyself” before anything else… But do the media justify such conclusions? No information is provided about power consumption per surface area unit of the house, office, or person. Providing comparable information is important not only at the level of negotiations between two countries!
Since 2007, apart from consulting, I have been organizing and managing artistic events, like concerts. For some time, I have been planning a series of partly oral, partly musical events for promotion of sustainable development.

Andrea Passigli studied in Italy and in the United States. He graduated cum laude from the Conservatory L. Cherubini in Florence under the guidance of Maria Tipo and participated in the Marlboro Music Festival at the invitation of Rudolf Serkin, whose teaching had a fundamental role in his musical development, which is mainly directed towards Viennese classicism. Important points of reference in his education where also his meetings since childhood with Pablo Casals, Nikita Magaloff.. Mr. Passigli, who has constant interest for chamber music and Lied, has performed in recitals and concertos in Italy, U.S.A, Austria, England, Holland, Russia, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Poland. He has recorded an album of 2CD with music for piano solo by Schubert, edited by fonè, a CD dedicated to Lieder on texts by Heine with the baritone Leonardo Wolovsky, and one on French impressionism with flutist Alexander Duisberg edited by Ema Records. He is Professor of Piano at the Conservatory G. Frescobaldi in Ferrara.

Wydawca: foné 97F 01/02
Franz Schubert – solo fortepianowe Andrea Passigli
CD I Sonata B-dur D960
CD II 4 Impromptus D899, 6 Moments Musicaux

Wydawca: EMA RECORDS DD60001
HEINE LIEDER                                                                                                      Leonardo Wolovsky – baryton
Andrea Passigli – fortepian
Schubert, Schuman, Wieck, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Brahms, Grieg

Wydawca: EMA RECORDS DDD70013
Aleksander Duisberg – flet
Andrea Passigli – fortepian
Fauré, Ravel, Debussie, Bartók

PROGRAM 1 FRANCISZEK SCHUBERT

• 4 IMPROMTUS op. 90 . D 899 ( 1827)
  1797 – 1828
  Allegro molto moderato
  Allegro Andante
  Allegretto

albo

• 6 MOMENTS MUSICAUX OP.94 D780
  1) C dur – moderato
  2) As dur – Andantino
  3) f moll – Allegro moderato
  4) cis moll – Moderato 5) F minor – Allegro vivace 6) A flat major – Allegretto

albo

• 12 LAENDER op. 171
  3 KLAVIERSTUCKE OP. POSTH.
  n. 1  es moll – allegro assai
  n. 2  Es dur – allegretto
  n. 3  C dur – allegro

———————————————————————

• SONATA B DUR OP. POST. D 960 ( 1828 )
  Molto moderato
  Andante sostenuto
  Scherzo: allegro vivace con delicatezza Rondò: allegro ma non troppo

PROGRAM 2

BELA BARTOK

• TRZY RONDA NA TEMATY LUDOWE (1916-1927)
  1- Andante
  2- Vivacissimo
  3- Allegro molto ( 8 min.) 15 WĘGIERSKICH PIESNI CHLOPSKICH (1914-1918)¼br> -Quattro antiche melodie
  -Scherzo
  -Ballata
  -Antiche melodie di danza ( 13 min.)
• SUITA OP. 14 (1916)
  -Allegretto
  -Scherzo
  -Allegro molto
  -Sostenuto
  ( 8 min.)

————————————-

• CZTERY PIEŚNI POGRZEBOWE OP.8/A (1909-1910)
  -Adagio
  -Andante
  -Poco lento
  -Assai andante (10 min.)SONATA ( 1926 )
  -Allegro moderato
  -Sostenuto e pesante
  -Allegro molto (15 min.)

PROGRAM 3

• W.A. MOZART, FANTAZJA d moll

• L.V.BEETHOVEN, SONATA C DUR OP. 53 ( WALDSTEIN )

———————————————

• F. CHOPIN,
  • 2 ETIUDY OP. 25
  • BALLADA g  moll. OP. 23
  • FANTAZJA f moll. OP. 49

PROGRAM 4

• A. SCARLATTI, TRZY SONATY.
•  S. BACH, PARTITA N. 4 D DUR

—————————————————-

• J.BRAHMS, VARIATIONS AND FUGUE ON A THEME BY HAENDEL

PROGRAM 5

W.A. MOZART

• SONATA IN F MAJOR K. 280
  SONATA IN B FLAT MAJOR K . 281

——————————————-

C. DEBUSSY

• DEUX ARABESQUES albo
  2 PRELUDES FROM BOOK 1
  Le vent dans la plaine
  La Cathedral Engloutie
  CHILDREN’S CORNER SUITE

PROGRAM 6

• L.V. BEETHOVEN, 6 BAGATELLES OP. 126
  albo
• F.J.HAYDN, SONATA IN E FLAT MAJOR HOB XVI:52
  albo
  SONATA IN D MAJOR HOB XVI:19

• L.V.BEETHOVEN, SONATA IN A FLAT MAJOR OP. 110

——————————————————

• R.SCHUMANN, CARNAVAL OP. 9

PROGRAM 7

• R. SCHUMANN, PAPILLONS OP. 2
  WALDSCENEN OP. 82

————————————————————

• R. SCHUMANN, CARNAVAL OP. 9

PROGRAM 8

• B.BARTOK, SUITE OP. 14

• C. DEBUSSY, DEUX ARABESQUES

• A. SKRIABIN, ETUDE OP. 8 N. 12
  ETUDE OP. 65 N.1
  5 PRELUDES OP. 74

——————————————————–

• R. SCHUMANN, CARNAVAL OP. 9

Pianista Andrea Passigli studiował we Włoszech i USA. Ukonczyl  z najwyzszym odznaczeniem  Konserwatorium L. Cherubini we Florencji w klasie Marii Tipo. Na zaproszenie Rudolfa Serkina uczestniczył w Marlboro Music Festival. Rudolf  Serkin miał duży wpływ na muzyczny rozwój artysty i jego szczegolne zainteresowanie wiedeńskim klasycyzmem. Silny wpływ na osobowość artysty mieli również Pablo Casals i Nikita Magaloff, z którymi spotykał się od dzieciństwa. Andrea Passigli jest solistą, kameralistą i posiada glebka znajomosc repertuaru Lieder. Grał recitale i koncerty we Włoszech, USA, Austrii, Angli, Holandii, Rosji, Rumunii, Jugosławii, na Węgrzech i w Polsce. Nagrał podwójny album z muzyką na fortepian solo Schuberta wydany przez “foné” oraz  CD “Ema Records” z flecistą Alexandrem Duisbergiem, poświęcony francuskiemu impresjonizmowi, jak również CD z barytonem Leonardo Wolovsky z Lieder do tekstow Heinego. Andrea Passigli jest profesorem fortepianu w Konserwatorium G. Frescobaldi w Ferrarze we Włoszech.

Skrzypaczka Weronika Kadłubkiewicz jest absolwentką Wyższej Szkoły Muzycznej w Warszawie w klasie Krzysztofa Jakowicza. Kontynuowała studia z Henrykiem Szeryngiem i Romanem Totenbergiem w USA. Solistka wielu orkiestr w Polsce, USA i Europie, koncertmistrz New Hampshire Symphony, Orchesta Filarmonica de Gran Canaria i Polskiej Orkiestry Kameralnej. Grała również z Boston Symphony i Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Dwukrotnie uczestniczyła w Sommerkurse w Darmstadt, a na zaproszenie Lejarena Hillera była rezydentką Creative Associates w Buffalo NY. Występowała na scenach w Polsce, Hiszpanii, Włoszech, Szwecji, Francji, Niemczech, Szwajcarii, Kanadzie i USA. Utalentowana wykonawczyni skrzypcowej muzyki współczesnej ma na swoim koncie prawykonania utworów, z których wiele zostało napisanych specjalnie dla niej. Weronika Kadłubkiewicz brała udział w festiwalach: Warszwska Jesień, Marlboro Music Festival, Bach Aria, Monadnock Music i inne. Prowadziła klasę skrzypiec i muzyki kameralnej w Amherst College, University of Massachusetts i w Smith College. Nagrała płyty dla firm Gasparo i CRI. Po dwudziestu latach pobytu w Stanach Zjednoczonych przeniosła się do Paryża.

From the review of Polish Publishing House ARKADY, the publisher of “Violin and my life” by Yehudi Menuhin: “… in our noisy, chaotic world violin talks to us with such a clear tone that its music unites people all over the different epochs, cultures and languages…”

Yehudi Menuhin”We are surrounded by more and more noise which is getting unbearable the more so it is meaningless. Although it ceased to have a function of a signal, it has kept its aggressive tone… We are living in a world in which there is a primacy of vision over hearing. The image is crucial. Some people are still able to listen what the world whispers and they talk about vibrations that can be felt in certain places or can be transmitted by somebody’s voice. But generally, we judge the world by its image…Being limited by our visual perception and through it, also by sense of touch, we are doomed to contacts via intermediaries. The world has turned into one big commercial advertisement because our visual perception limits us to appearances. The eye leads us but it can also mislead us, whereas music can not be misleading because it is a part of the reality and reaches us directly. It reaches us from the deep of Absolute, not from its echo. Music can interfere with Absolut and change it. I had an occasion to observe ( thanks to the MUS-E project (Music, Source, Equilibrium and Tolerance – music as a source of equilibrium and tolerance)) miracles that music has caused…the aim of the project is to introduce singing and dancing into curriculum of schools for children from underprivileged families. Contact with music allows them to gain emotional equilibrium although the lessons take place only few hours per week. The classes produce spectacular results, one can see that the music influences these children in a way that their personalities are blooming, their sensibility is being developed, they can better manage interaction within the group, have a better improvisation and creativity skills to end up with more retentive memory. These children have better results in their school exams. It is as if under the influence of music vibrations, the children undergo a metamorphosis. The lack of confidence as well as prejudices, fears and aggression cease to exist…In today’s world music and dance are the antidote to aggression…the stabilizing influence of music and body movements combined with calm and concentration which are being brought along, is the concrete fact. There is no better way to guarantee a psychological well being of society and to achieve harmony between people…”

Of course we are not talking about concert halls and cinemas that have bad acoustics….

The article from website http://www.eurodialog.org.pl/ :

” Yehudi Menuhin, Culture and Peace.

We are witnessing today a growing violence, a dissolution of reverence, whether for religions, patriotisms, conventions, a withering of reverence for women, children and family, a brutalization of feeling, whether for nature or for life, and a loss of tenderness and compassion for the humble, the exploited and the suffering.

We are witnessing the accompanying orchestration of ruthlessness in humanity, of civil war and aggression, even in trade, even in schooling, on the streets, together with a general reversion to basic black-and-white simplifications, a form of fundamentalism which is invading all thought.

As against this dismal picture there are other novel and hopeful aspects for the dawning 21st century. One is the stripping-away of man’s self-glorifications, prejudices, false illusions, hypocrisies, and the laying-bare, figuratively and literally, of body and soul through our deeper knowledge and understanding of each. Will the good and the hopeful triumph over the evil? That seems to be the question today, and the very difficulty of its answer lies in the close and intertwining relationships of good and evil. We are moving, literally, towards dead ends at accelerating speeds; economic well-being is taken to represent continuous growth requiring the ever greater plundering of our resources, the pollution of all we breathe and swallow, and is threatening social revolutions as the increasing gaps and tensions between the rich and the poor grow. The collapse of democracy in favour of totalitarian regime is already in the air. At the same time we are searching for models of sustainability, whereby people’s talents and time and nature’s resources can be accommodated into civilised patterns without endangering our progeny and condemning them to ever greater misery.

The development of new and creative values – introspective, objective and revealing – should in no way be interpreted as a denial of the sacred but rather as a peeling-off of the masks, the costumes and vestments which we have often abused as symbols of a sacred realm, separated from everyday life, often to clothe our own sins and crimes. To oppose these menaces we must one day restore certain areas of life to that respect and reverence which many so-called primitive people have understood as being essential to mankind’s survival. Today not only our children and our trees but all children and all trees should be considered with reverence.

Certainly, one reason for the demise of organized “rational” Communism was its negation of the sacred. As practised by Jesus, of the Essenes, this high concept of a community of sharing found its expression in a most devout religious feeling. It is the very same absence of the sacred from our capitalistic free market – (whether we sell and buy ourselves, other human beings of every age, or drugs, arms, coal, oil, timber, or natives) – that is accounting for the present downfall of civilizations which counted democracy and freedom of thought and expression amongst their sacred virtues. For in order to dominate, persuade or govern ever larger diversities of human cultures and geographical features, it is necessary to come not only with superior means of subjugation – weapons for both instant and delayed action – mortal arms and economic strangleholds – but also with an ever more universal doctrine – or shall we call it an ever wider slice of truth?

There is no doubt that the missionaries who brought the promise and the realization of an ever wider application and acceptance of a moral code, the promise of salvation, the threat of eternal hell, especially when evoked against the doctrine of equality, justice, and a benign Father protector exercised a wider appeal than any tribal religions could possibly have done, adapted as they are to local needs but lacking in that concept of total equality, universality of justice, absolution of sins and a divine protection which only the “one true God” could ensure. The Jewish Faith, the Catholic Church and Protestantism are still commanding religions, and many churches have proliferated, some crassly exploitative of human beings and tax-free status, others most high-minded – the Seventh-Day Adventists, the Bahai, Quakers, not to speak of another great offspring of the Jewish Faith – Muhammedanism, historically a noble religion which has in some respects not evolved out of the age of Empire and Messianic ambitions – rarely having participated in the democratic advances of hard-won freedoms and representations.

But no religion today the world over questions the basic principle of monotheism, because it is already more than a half-truth. Not only is the “Maker” one, but the relativity of all else to the one, of light to matter – light being liberated matter and matter being imprisoned light – and now already dawning the truth of the relationship, the equation between the organic and the inorganic, between the inanimate and animate chemistry all go to prove that the universe does not rotate around man nor that god was anthropomorphic, but that living and developing intelligence is supreme. There can be no doubt about our all belonging to the one continuous creation, of which we are as much the motive as the passive part. I believe this credo raises man’s role of intelligence and responsibility to its highest potential whilst placing us as human beings humbly serving a cosmic intelligence greater than our own, leading us to the seat of revelation. What is certain is that we can be both proud and humble; proud of belonging to a living destiny and humble in our reverence for the greater intelligence vested in all consciousness.

However, traditional monotheism in its concept of oneness is still only a little more than a half-truth so long as it excludes two principles: a) Oneness must imply that God is not apart from His creation; he inhabits and is part of every atom and cell. Infinity, eternity and constant creation possess us inexorably, as does the religious spirit. Man is by definition a religious animal, possessed of free choice and responsibility. b) The principle of infinite diversity must be regarded as equally sacred as the principle of oneness, and to this extent the pagan and the animist must be accorded their own rightful share of the sacred. My own personal belief is sympathetic to the conviction of many animist creeds and of our own Druids – God does inhabit the trees – and I believe the Catholic Church is strongest partly because it has tacitly admitted and never completely broken with the pagan – unlike Muhammedanism and it parent Jewish tradition of never defining or drawing the Maker or the Made.

It is noteworthy that the oldest and founder religion of our western faiths – the Jewish and the least superstitious – has itself had a very minor role in proselytizing. Not only had the Jews for thousands of years no temporal power – state, army or fleet – they were people of the Book – and, no more than the Quakers’ was their empire of this world. Literate, philosophizing, communicating in and refining the abstract in words and numbers, the temple, the school, the home and the family substituted for empire-building and the lust for power over others. They were also the keepers of the Ten Commandments until a Jewish state was “re-“formed, a difficult admixture of cultures and state. They never failed to be the lightening-rod for persecution – religious, racial, and now national – hardly an attractive choice for conversion! I am afraid that their (our) Lord is reserving yet more punishment for this oldest of persecuted great peoples – in His careless and indifferent acceptance of the consequences of free choice. The Holy Land has never, as far as I know, been self-governing since Biblical times, when Semitic tribes conquered the land. If it is today again self-governing; it should become, as King Hussein said to me, a Semitic Federation.

The theme of my discourse tonight is the relationship of Culture to Peace. We have touched upon religious aspects of cultures but have not considered the purposes of Peace. The belonging to and acceptance of a given culture is essential to the security, the continuity required to till the land, to educate the children, to pursue knowledge, to create visible, audible and lasting confirmation of any given culture. The sacredness of Church, often above and beyond King and country, accounts for the cathedrals, chapels, the music, the formal arts, the schools, imposing formal frames of behaviour in their demand for widespread reverence and respect on the earlier, more narrow and basic folk-cultures. Thus, any given culture is an admixture of the sacred and the temporal, of what can loosely be described as higher and lower, between what we might call the eternal and the permanent. We require a degree of permanency to ensure the security of successive generations, to pursue its culture research, science, art and commerce, but we cannot enjoy these fruits of civilization without a relationship to the eternal, which, I believe, we are now beginning to acknowledge.

Some cultures are purely predatory, preying on the accumulated reserves of the more stable, often destroying them; others, as Sparta, were purely military. Some were a mixture of would-be world dominators and great cultures – Germans, Japanese, and in its own way the Soviet Union – joining the military with the message. Germany tried through Goebbels et al. to formulate a message, but it was pathetically bare and condemned to defeat as it was limited to the superiority of Aryans! Some cultures were purely peaceful, others – the Polynesians, Eskimos, Red Indians – had no defence against our God and our Gun.

The age of Western Empires produced joint efforts of great distributions of similar colours on world maps, being the result of joined warrior and priest. It may be argued that England planted the element of parliamentary democracy and commerce more firmly than other Empires. A secure and beloved homeland played at Empire more successfully than others because it formed men of every estate and class who, for different motives, were disposed to risk their lives and fortune at games; winning came easily because sportsmanship and trade were all-important.

Today we have states and cultures of all sizes, all descriptions, from the newer global cultures of science, technology, commerce and communication to communities of nations, European, Commonwealths, to national, regional, nomadic, immigrant, inner-city; we encounter both the minute and the international aspects of these in conventional and confrontational situations. Waves and tidal waves of violence erupt in our Iives and usurp our time, our peace-of-mind, our security, our very consciousness. We live in a patently disordered world in which new forms, new patterns of order, some more enlightened than others are emerging. Some should be obsolete but are making a last desperate stand – forms of brutal fundamentalism; by contrast various small youth communities, as the original San Francisco flower people, or their opposite number – inner-city gangs – coalesce. Above all, these most advanced, intellectually alert and open-minded international global youth, sharing the same personal and global anxieties, are committed to a better world -socially, ecologically and spiritually. This global youth is prepared to fight for global human values but, I believe, will not engage itself out of national pride any Ionger. This is one reason why modern professional armies are, in fact, in a sense mercenary armies and why the Russian, the Chinese, are essentially people’s armies, as the Swiss still are. These armies must eventually be replaced by an imposed social-cum-military community or world police with the highest standards of public service and committed to the protection of the weaker – women, children, poor, hungry, crippled, sick, weak and homeless – even, upon occasion, “lawbreakers”.

The instantly brutal is invading the realms of cultivated and subtle expression. Our five senses are assailed with mortal effect – to quote the last words in Hamlet, (a massacre) “of sound and fury signifying nothing”. Nothing is more revealing of the eternal truth of Shakespeare’s words. On television, genocide, killing and torture; in our media a constant stream of degrading sensations, reports and gossip as against that never-never land of enticing advertisements where we learn the purity of purchased bliss. We suffer the noise of road drills or the forced feeding of music, deafening decibels at discotheques. These insults to our senses of hearing, smell and taste are brutalizing and are a symbol of the confrontation between human beings and their different needs. These divisions make ever less sense in a world ever more dependent on itself, and one in which each of us is dependent on so many other people and furthermore a world in which we instantly react to events all over the globe. Yet we must ensure peace for each and for all. I will now speak of the conditions for such peace. Such peace must allow for the full unfolding of our talents, our gifts for self-expression, for otherwise they fester, ferment, rot and destroy. The societies we envisage must be bound by a sense of belonging to ever-widening concentric circles or spheres of common dependence and interests. Such societies must be as robust as they are subtle and must allow man, the religious animal, the full expression of his feeling and his faith in eternity and mystery of life in its oneness and in its diversity. He must live creatively, yet with profound respect for nature and the ways and freedoms of his co-habitors.

His formation must begin at the earliest age with the refinement of his senses, first and foremost the sense of hearing, of voices, of music, of memory, of surrounding space. Yet, even before, there must come in chronological order the sense of immediate touch, skin and tongue, the warm and protective, the caress and, of course, inevitably, the unpleasant, hurtful or corrosive. Speech and music are but extensions of the tactile as vibrations from beyond us set up vibrations on and in our ear drums, i.e. within ourselves. Our hearing, unlike our sight, which is directional and confrontational (subject v. object), is global and all-embracing. Our eyes should rest on the green of nature, on the sky, on the stars and the moon, on the seas in all their moods, on sources of sounds which occasion human reaction, protecting, comforting, meditating, but also frightening in small inoculative doses, whilst learning to defend ourselves, or to avoid, to intervene or to ignore. Writing and reading are visual skills which cannot really flower until listening, thought and speech are fully evolved. The senses of fantasy and observation by singing, drawing, painting, reciting by composing poetry and music, by mime, by acting, the control of our body and its health by a knowledge of nutrition and training in various disciplines – yoga, Taichi, martial arts, paired with movement and dancing as with singing from the earliest moments possible – constitute a child’s world and are the basic formation which must precede the abstractions of reading, writing and calculation. The cultivation of though and speech is far more important than of reading and writing because it is basic. Dreaming, talking, indeed even philosophizing, must precede abstract study.

The aural is more is more important than the written, however less advanced it may be in terms of recorded knowledge and wisdom. The aural represents, however, our accumulated wisdom and constitutes our separate cultures. We tend to spurn the aural in our civilizations and in civilizations which have evolved the aural to a very high degree of memory and social responsibility. But with the incredible advance of memory banks, computers capable of thinking in a manner, man’s and woman’s and a child’s inner world, inner life and integrity must be protected and encouraged. This is what I am attempting to achieve with the schools project MUS-E and with the project for the representation of cultures, as distinct from the political representations of nationalities. For this project to work it is essential that both the European Community and the Cultures recognize their respective reciprocal responsibilities. The Community as ‘Guardian of Cultures’ in the words of President Higgins, and the Cultures as supporters of the Community and of its functions. My very modest Foundation in Brussels, The International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, is engaged in these tasks to help guide our European Community towards a balanced harmony in which autonomous cultures would be represented and protected by the European Community whilst themselves supporting the Community. The “porteparles” would have to be individuals fulfilling four qualifications:

a) the trust of their group,
b) the unquestioned authority and knowledge of the subject under discussion,
c) the ability to talk to an ‘enemy’,
d) of course no terrorist.

Once a mission or task has been successfully accomplished, that person would be eligible for a five-year appointment to an Assembly of Cultures meeting twice a year. We are intent on reviving and inspiring a genuine European conscience conceived in the image of what the integrated diversities of Europe have already brought the world – in music, in language, in literature, in science, in parliaments, in democracy, in open-mindedness and in social conceptions in advance of many other parts of the world. One of the most inspiring examples of man’s thought was the establishing of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was conceived in London by a wonderful group of men of great vision – Julian Huxley, the great biologist, was its first President – and it was to be totally apolitical, the counter-part of the United Nations. I am glad to say that in the hands of Federico Mayor it is in a strengthened way fulfilling its original concept of bringing the world together in the recognition of our responsibilities and obligations in the realms of education, of art, of heritage in all forms, from music to ancient architecture, of relief to the destitute and abandoned children in the streets of Sao Paolo and to hundreds and hundreds of wonderful human and humane initiatives taken throughout the world. I continually regret that the United States and England following in dutiful echo renounced UNESCO some years ago and are still refusing to rejoin this great human global organization. These thoughts occurred to me last Christmas Day. I feel humanity is passing through a very crucial time. We must all hope and pray for the triumph of good over evil, whilst recognising that it is possible to transform the negative into positive energies. This dynamic and living state of peace will require as much courage, faith, philosophy, compassion, foresight, reasoning as ever did any war in the past. ”   Material from http://www.eurodialog.org/

      They’ve met in 2006 in Paris…a place between  Poland and Argentina…She – Polish, born to a musical Silesian family, plays classical and contemporary music all over the worldHe –  born in Argentina, the cradle of tango, to a family where everybody plays tango on different instruments…

They’ve met in tango…

Duo Cordato is inviting you to a tango,  an emotional journey via laughter and fascination, flirt and jealousy, passion, sensuality and love. Manuel Romero said: “Tango is not only a dance. Tango is a kind of lifestyle, state of mind and philosophy. Tango was born from the very deep inside of a human soul and therefore its language is understood by every human being.”

Tango was born in the street. Today it is being played in grand concert halls and danced everywhere.

Tango is a ballroom dance originating from Buenos Aires in Argentina and Montevideo in Uruguay. Habanera and flamenco, the Spanish traditions transplanted to South America, mixed with “candombe”, the dance of African slaves performed and sang at street parades, are at its roots. The word “cum-tan-go” is being repeated in the refrain and this is where “tango” comes from. With a time “candombe” was transformed into “milonga”.

Astor Piazzola (1921-1992) was a musical genius for whom the national dance became a raw material on the basis of which he has invented a completely new music genre. He raised the status of tango from town music to classical music. Piazzola was a great visionary composer, recognised internationally. Unfortunately, he had to fight with the lack of understanding in his own country.

Kacper Podrygajło has written: “In Piazzola’s music the Bach tradition clashes with dances originating from Buenos Aires brothels…In the Baroque tradition everything was mixed up and nobody paid attention to possible misalliance. Gigue (old French ham) was worshiped and by means of this act became an integral part of the Baroque mass. Da chiesa sonata rarely occurred alone. Suite was composed of a cycle of dancing pieces which usually differed from their original versions. We find the same in Piazzola’s music. He writes tango in such a stylized manner that each piece of music differs from each other and, at the same time, they are identical with what they do not represent. However, it does not mean that they are written in a way Bach would have written them if he had lived to our days.”

Duo Cordato with Veronica Kadlubkiewicz violin and Sebastian Cordato guitar and voice perform music of Astor Piazzola’s as well as their own improvisations on dancing music from Argentina.

Hope is the mother of the wise

Courage is the crown of life

Man is an artist by nature

Preserve your dignity by all means

Love is your light

Time is your friend

Love the truth

Lead a dignified life

Make the Earth a beloved treasure

Café 1930 – Astor Piazzolla.mp3

Milonga de mis Amores.mp3

Palomita Blanca.mp3

Bordel 1900 – Astor Piazzolla.mp3

Milonga del Angel – Astor Piazzolla.mp3

Payadora.mp3

Los ejes de mi carreta.mp3

Nocturna.mp3

Libertango – Astor Piazzolla.mp3

La cueca del violin.mp3

Astor Piazzolla and dancing rythms of Argentina   

                                 about 35 minutes of music of Duo Cordato

Weronika Kadłubkiewicz violin i Sebastian Cordero guitar and singing

On September 17, 2007, Professor Stefan Kozłowski passed away, taken by sudden death. Information about his death and funeral date reached me too late to attend his funeral and personally pay last respect to this giant fighter for sustainable development in Poland, who right down to the last moments of his life fought by organizing conferences, publishing books, giving public talks… There will be no more of them. His huge work, however, will not be lost – it will continue through his successors…

I want to thank you Professor for placing my name in nomination as a member of the “Man and the Environment” Committee affiliated with the Presidium of the Polish Academy of Science. I thank you for enabling me to participate in the Polish avant-garde of sustainable development. I thank you for motivating me for getting a PhD, and for your vision of me as a person leading a university department…

I haven’t got a PhD – I stayed on the path of consulting. The EU Bosnia&Herzegovina project destroyed my plans of scientific cooperation with you Professor, but here, on this Web site, I will promote sustainable development with application of integrated approach, based on the integral philosophy, as I mentioned in one of our discussion. I will write the book I promised to write… [/english]

         “Astor Piazzolla i taneczne rytmy Argentyny”

Honorowy Patronat Jego Ekscelencji Ambasadora Argentyny w Polsce Pana Carlosa Alberto Passalacqua i Prezydenta Miasta Opola Pana Ryszarda Zembaczyńskiego

Duo Cordato wystąpi w Państwowej Szkole Muzycznej (PSM) w Opolu w dniu 14 października 2007 o godzinie 19:00.

Zespół w składzie Veronica Kadlubkiewicz skrzypce i Sebastian Cordero gitara oraz śpiew wykonają utwory Astora Piazzolii i improwizacje własne na tematy tanecznej muzyki Argentyny.

Przedsprzedaż biletów w Sklepie Muzycznym CODA, Opole Rynek 7. Sprzedaż biletów godzinę przed koncertem w szatni PSM. Bilety w cenie 35zł. Zniżka dla uczniów, studentów i emerytów.

             “Astor Piazzolla i taneczne rytmy Argentyny”

Honorowy Patronat Jego Ekscelencji Ambasadora Argentyny w Polsce Pana Carlosa Alberto Passalacqua

Duo Cordato wystąpi po raz pierwszy w Polsce w dniu 11 października 2007 w Galerii Zamku w Mosznej o godzinie 17:00.

Zespół w składzie Veronica Kadlubkiewicz skrzypce i Sebastian Cordero gitara oraz śpiew wykonają utwory Astora Piazzolii i improwizacje własne na tematy tanecznej muzyki Argentyny.

Bilety w cenie 25zł do nabycia godzinę przed koncertem przed Galerią.