The Kosciuszko Foundation Membership Appreciation Polish Day at the KFDC

To celebrate our valued members and expand our community, we are hosting a special event, “Membership Appreciation Polish Day,” offering a perfect mix of entertainment and cultural activities.

Join us on Saturday, September 21, at 5:00 PM at the Kosciuszko Foundation Washington, DC.

The program will include:

🎶 A performance by piano virtuosos Brian Ganz and Martin Labazevitch with a special 4-hands recital

🍽️ Traditional Polish food

🍸 Signature Polish vodka cocktails

🎲 Polish board games

🎁 Small appreciation KF branded gifts for our current and new members

The event is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with old friends and forge new relationships.

The event is free for current Kosciuszko Foundation members only!

If you are a member, please register to attend HERE.

Not a member yet? Become A Member today and register to join the celebration!

We deeply value the ongoing generosity of our members at the Kosciuszko Foundation! Your annual contributions, starting at $60 for Individual Membership and $120 for Sustaining Membership, empower us to continue our mission of promoting educational exchanges and Polish culture across the United States.

Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation.

Mr. Ganz shared first prize in the 1989 Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition and was third prize-winner of the 1991 Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition. He has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony (USA), the National Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the conductors he has performed with are Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jerzy Semkow and Yoel Levi.

The Washington Post has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” For many years Mr. Ganz has made it his mission to join vivid music making with warmth and intimacy onstage to produce a new kind of listening experience, in which great works come to life with authentic emotional power. As one of Belgium’s leading newspapers, La Libre Belgique, put it, “We don’t have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy.”

In January of 2011 Mr. Ganz began a multi-year project in partnership with the National Philharmonic in which he will perform the complete works of Frédéric Chopin at the Music Center at Strathmore. After the inaugural recital, The Washington Post wrote: “Brian Ganz was masterly in his first installment of the complete works [of Chopin].” His February 2024 recital, entitled “Chopin the Virtuoso,” marked the 13th of the series. The next recital will take place the day before Chopin’s 215th birthday, February 28, 2025. 

Mr. Ganz is on the piano faculty of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he is artist-in-residence, and recently retired after 21 years on the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatory. He is the artist-editor of the Schirmer Performance Edition of Chopin’s Preludes (2005). Pre-pandemic performance highlights include Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Alba Music Festival in Italy and with the National Philharmonic at Strathmore, Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 466 with the Annapolis Symphony and Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with the Billings Symphony (now viewable on YouTube).

In September of 2019, he made his debut as an actor and playwright at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Freer and Sackler Galleries. The play imagined a dialogue between American artist James Whistler and a musician who explores the connections between Debussy’s music and the artist’s “10 O’Clock Lecture.” Included in the play are portions of the lecture itself along with performances of the music of Debussy and composers under his influence. Most recently, Mr. Ganz performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in April of this year with the Virginia Chamber Orchestra at the recently opened Capital One Hall in Northern Virginia. He will join the Annapolis Symphony this October both in Annapolis and at the Strathmore Music Center in a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488. 

Martin Labazevitch

Praised by critics in Europe and the United States for his lyricism, virtuosity and an intensity of performance, pianist Martin Labazevitch appeared in many concert halls and festivals in Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Israel, Japan, South Korea and the United States. He is a recipient of many awards and recognitions in piano competitions in the U.S., Spain and Japan as well as recipient of the Honorary Ambassador Award in Stalowa Wola, Poland, Rina Menashe Award in Israel, Kosciuszko Foundation Award in New York as well as the Harold Bauer Award for the most promising pianist at the Manhattan School of Music.

His performances have been broadcast on radio stations throughout the U.S. such as WQXR, WWFM, and WFMT in New York, WFMT in Chicago as well as classical radio stations in Poland and Lithuania. Mr. Labazevitch has been a soloist with leading orchestras in Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and the United States. As a chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Paderewski Trio, an all-Polish ensemble, which for the entirety of its existence had been coached by the late Isidore Cohen – member of the Juilliard String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio. Paderewski Trio’s debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall was praised by Strad Magazine as “…exuberant, multi-faceted, …gripping from first note to last.” Highlights of the most recent seasons include performances with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Rzeszow Philharmonic and Lutoslawski Chamber Orchestra in Poland, recitals in Lima, Peru; Valencia, Spain; London, UK as well as Methuan Hall in Boston, Myra Hess Series in Chicago, Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

In 2015, Mr. Labazevitch released his first commercial recording on Delos Music label, to very enthusiastic reviews in Poland, France, Germany and the United States. Fanfare Magazine wrote: “His way with Chopin is fluid and convincing. He plays with a superb control of rubato and has the most beautiful way of melting a phrase.” The American Record Guide wrote: “Pianist Labazevitch injects more fire into the two concerto works, rushing the tempos in some passagework to build excitement; orchestra and conductor gamely, calmly follow his lead. Labazevitch is excellent.” ConcertoNet wrote, “…he pleasantly refrains from overtaxing Chopin’s conclusive Allegro vivace with shimmering grandeur and eloquent precision that could even rival that of Arthur Rubinstein.”

Born in Poland, Mr. Labazevitch studied at the Odessa Conservatory in Ukraine, with Anatoly Kardashev, before immigrating to the United States in 2000. He graduated from the Manhattan School of Music where his main mentors were Mme Nina Svetlanova and Cuban-American virtuoso Horacio Gutierrez, obtaining Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in 2019. He has worked with such renowned artists as Dmitri Bashkirov, Lazar Berman, Isidore Cohen, Bella Davidovich, Philippe Entremont, Stephen Hough, Ruth Laredo, Nikolai Petrov, and Earl Wild. He has also collaborated with contemporary composers such as Richard
Danielpour, Jan Radzynski, and Lukas Foss.

A Steinway Artist, Mr Labazevitch is the co-artistic director of the Puerto Rico International Piano Festival in San Juan, serves on the board of directors of the Rosalyn Tureck International Bach Competition in New York City and is the founder and artistic director of the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition and Chopin Piano Academy in Washington DC.

An enthusiastic educator, Mr. Labazevitch shares passion for teaching with his students at the Levine School of Music in
Washington D.C. as well as at the Paderewski Piano Academy, a pioneer hybrid music institution based in Zurich, Switzerland, which he co-founded with Ingolf Wunder.

By joining us, you’ll not only support this important work but also gain access to exclusive events and programs, including our “Discover Your Roots with the KF” series. Learn more about the series HERE