THREE PADEREWSKIS, a new American musical hybrid, is one of the winners of the Paderewski Cycle project, a national juried competition calling for a fifteen-minute musical “treatment” (musical script) about Ignace Jan Paderewski. The project is sponsored by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a division of the Polish Government’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage in Warsaw, Poland. With book by University of Southern California professor and playwright Oliver Mayer and music by award-winning composer Jenni Brandon, it was premiered November 3rd, 2017 at the Camilleri Hall Brain and Creativity Institute on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The THREE PADEREWSKIS 15-minute treatment was chosen to be developed into the larger, 40-minute show for premiere in November 2018. This new show, supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, will premiere on November 2nd, 2018 at 7pm in the Park tBallroom during the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, CA. The festival is a “four-day music festival held annually in November. It celebrates Paso Robles’ rich heritage and its most famous resident Ignacy Jan Paderewski – virtuoso pianist, composer, international politician, local landowner, grower and winemaker.” (www.paderewskifest.com/). The Polish Music Center at USC is very much involved in the Paderewski Festival. They have provided enormous support for the development of the show. Importantly, through their efforts, the world premiere will occur at Paso Robles in November of this year. On the weekend of December 1st , the show will be performed again in the Los Angeles area.
Synopsis of the Three Paderewski’s
Late at night in Paso Robles, California, over a casque of homemade Zinfandel, three versions of the great Paderewski (one of them female) sift through a lifetime of memories far too large for any one person. Ignace the pianist/composer, Jan the visionary statesman, and Paderewski the viticulturist assesses a lifetime of love and loss, exile, war and wine. But when the ghost of Antonina, their long-departed wife, rejoins them, memories become immediate with a vibrancy that sheds light on the depths of their endless love. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Polish nation, this new musical hybrid celebrates a great man’s undying dream and unending toil to form a free and modern Poland, and to make great music along the way.
Members of the cast, include singers who have appeared with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Master Chorale, at the Kennedy Center, in major motion pictures as well as on Grammy-award winning recordings. Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera of the Playwright’s Arena, they will be accompanied by the L.A. based ensemble Central4 Piano Quartet.
The Cast
| Antonina – Katherine Powers | Chorus Soprano – Ariel Pisturino |
| Ignace – Maria Dominique Lopez | Chorus Alto – Shabnam Kalbasi |
| Jan – Todd Strange | Chorus Tenor – Omar Crook |
| Paderewski – Adrian Rosales | Chorus Bass – Emilio Valdez |
Meet The Production Team
Oliver Mayer – Book and Producer – olivermayer.com
Jenni Brandon – Composer, Music Director and Producer – jennibrandon.com
Jon Lawrence Rivera – Director – playwrightsarena.org
Dr. Stephanie Hutchinson – Rehearsal Accompanist – stephaniehutchinson.com
Simon Chau – Stage Manager/Projections
Katherine Powers – Contractor
Central 4 Piano Quartet – Timothy Durkovic – piano, Elizabeth Hedman-violin, Meredith Crawford-viola, Paula Fehrenbach – cello www.central4.com