Embassy Series Launches New Season – 2020

Written on October 7, 2020. Posted in All, Music, News.

Streaming live from the Residence of the Ambassador of Poland to the United States at 2pm Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Washington, DC (October 5, 2020) – The Embassy Series is proud to present a virtual concert in a demonstration of perseverance and global solidarity in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland on Wednesday, October 14^th at 2:00 pm. Twelve-year-old award-winning classical pianist Matthew Chang will perform two of Chopin’s most consequential pieces in a performance that is sure to delight the program’s online audience.

The performance marks the return of the Embassy Series, which boasts 27 years of bringing music to the nation’s capital via the international community. Recent events inspired Jerome Barry, Founder and Director of the Embassy Series, to continue the Series online rather than wait for an end to the crisis.

“Culture and the arts have the power to demonstrate that we have more in common than what divides us,” Barry says. “That’s even more important now that humanity must come together to counter this global crisis.”

The concert, hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, will also highlight two anniversaries that Poles and the international community celebrate this year: the 40^th Anniversary of Poland’s Solidarity movement – a trade union and a mass peaceful movement that inspired democratic change throughout Central and Eastern Europe – as well as the 210^th Anniversary of Chopin’s birth, celebrated in Poland – and beyond – as the Year of Fryderyk Chopin.

“Chopin once said that his goal was to ‘try to express the soul and the heart of humanity,’ as well as the soul and heart of the people of Poland and around the world who share the same values of peace and freedom,’” noted H.E. Piotr Wilczek, Poland’s Ambassador to the United States.

Chang, a Gifted and Talented student at the Kirov Academy of Washington, D.C., has won international awards for his renditions of Chopin, including the prestigious Chopin International Piano Competition and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition. By the age of seven, he had played at Carnegie Hall, performed with the Washington Conservatory Orchestra and made his European debut in the Metallener Saal Musikverein in Austria. He has been studying piano with Dr. Kuei-I Wu for six years.

About one of Chang’s performances, the New York Concert Review said, “He projected the life of each distinct phrase with a joyful and intense involvement. His rhythm was not merely solid, but also full of dance-like energy.”

In addition to Chopin, Chang’s program will include pieces by Bach and Beethoven, of which Chopin would approve, saying, “Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvelous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. Matthew will also perform Kabalevsky: Sonata No. 3 in F Major, Op. 46, 3^rd Movement.

Streaming live from the Residence of the Polish Ambassador on Wednesday, October 14 at 2 pm. Please click http://bit.ly/PolishEmbassyConcert to register. After registering, the on-line viewing public will receive a direct link to watch this special one-hour studio-produced concert program. Look for registration information on the Embassy Series website (https://www.embassyseries.org/) and in upcoming press releases. This is a free & open concert to the public, although all donations (tax-exempt) are greatly appreciated and will significantly help us to continue offering similarly produced on-line programs in the near future.

Embassy Series: As programming and outreach for the organization has grown since its inception, the mission of The Embassy Series has remained the same: To foster a greater sense of common humanity through the international language of music by showcasing the very best of each culture in each nation’s symbolic home in Washington.

In 1994, the Embassy Series made its debut. Since then, the Series has worked with over 200 ambassadors, hosted over 600 concerts in 89 different embassies involving more than 900 international artists from 80 countries and over 300 artists from the D.C. area. By extending public access to the embassies in the Nation’s Capital, the Series offers its audience the opportunity to participate in a cultural exchange – to watch and listen to a musical performance that highlights the contributions of a particular country. Such a backdrop allows the audience to “get a feel” for the nation being represented, which is key to promoting and celebrating the diversity of both a host embassy and Series patrons. This educational and musical experience is accentuated by a reception at the host embassy, or residence, immediately following the concert, where guests are encouraged to interact with the featured artist(s) of the evening and the diplomatic community.

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Poland to the United States of America. The embassy residence is currently the home of the Ambassador of Poland to the United States, His Excellency Piotr Wilczek. The house, built in 1927, was formerly the Washington residence of the late billionaire philanthropist, art collector, and horse breeder Paul Mellon and his widow, Listerine heiress, Rachel (“Bunny”) Mellon. The house is used primarily as the Washington residence of the incumbent ambassador and his family. It also provides an intimate and comfortable location for entertaining the embassy’s many official guests as well as conducting embassy garden parties on state holidays and at various points throughout the year.

The Kirov Academy’s Gifted and Talented Music Program: the mission is to recognize and train students who have both the passion and talent to succeed as artists of the next generation through the rigorous conservatory-style music program that they offer. Kirov’s team of world-renowned musicians, backed by dedicated faculty and administrators is committed to ensuring the continuation of the Western classical tradition through future generations and to continue inspiring audiences for years to come.

The Kirov GT Music Program provides pre-college musical training and preparation for students 5-18 years of age who exhibit the potential and discipline to continue pursuing music study at the college level and beyond. The GT curriculum includes masterclasses with the faculties of top music schools, music theory and ear training courses, music history, jury assessments, and performance classes. Students will also have the option to take private weekly lessons with our renowned piano faculty at our Washington D.C. campus, or continue studying with their current private teacher and count these lessons toward their piano requirement. Selected GT students will perform in a year-end recital located at a named venue in the D.C. area.

2020 Kirov International Music Festival Junior E-Piano Competition: The final round of the Kirov 2020 International Junior E-Piano Competition is Saturday, October 24^th, at the Kirov Academy of Washington, D.C. https://kirovacademydc.org/competition2020/.

Matthew Chang, received the 2019 Steinway Young Artist Grant for the Kirov G&T program from Steinway of Washington, D.C. Here is the YouTube link to Matthew Chang’s 2020 Virtual Piano Solo Recital at Kirov: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OUIpePkpCM&t=2483s; and, here are the links to Matthew Chang’s webpage and the Kirov Academy’s Gifted and Talented Program: https://kirovacademydc.org/programs/kirov-gifted-and-talented-program/matthew-chang-virtual-piano-solo-recital-2020/; https://kirovacademydc.org/programs/kirov-gifted-and-talented-program/.