Thursday, October 26, 2017
7:00pm – 9:00pm
(Doors at 6:00pm)
Fraunces Tavern Museum
54 Pearl Street, NY, NY 10004
Admission: $20 Public / $15 Museum Members
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An evening of history and music featuring two major experts on Brigadier General of the Continental Army and Polish freedom fighter, Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
When Kosciuszko died, he left money in his will to free and educate slaves. Professor Paul Finkelman, a specialist in American legal history, U. S. Constitutional law, race and the law, the law of American slavery, will discuss Kosciuszkos will and how it was carried out. Finkelman is the author of Slavery and Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson (Routledge, 2014), and Supreme Injustice: Slavery in the Nation’s Highest Court (forthcoming from Harvard University Press in 2018).
Joining him will be Kosciuszkos biographer Alex Storozynski. Storozynski is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, award-winning author of The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Era of Revolution, which won the Fraunces Tavern Book Award, The Templar Military History Award – “Military Order of Saint Louis,” and other honors. His documentary film, Kosciuszko: A Man Ahead of His Time, was broadcast on PBS WNET New York, WTTW Chicago and WLIW Long Island and in the fall will be shown on PBS stations across America.
These presentations will be followed by a piano concert by pianist and harpsichordist Magdalena Baczewska, featuring original compositions by Kosciuszko himself.
Finally, raise a toast with the original cocktail, The Kosciuszko Bridge, which joins the “spirits” of two nations: Polish Bison Grass Vodka and American gin.
Born in Poland, Magdalena Baczewska has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a pianist, harpsichordist, educator, recording artist, producer, and an administrator. She has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, China National Symphony, among others. She has appeared in concert with violinist Joshua Bell, and collaborates extensively with Oscar and Grammy winning composer Tan Dun. As artistic director of BlueSleep Music, Baczewska produced music for MetroNaps EnergyPod®, popularized by Google. In collaboration with BlueSleep®, a medical team specialized in research and treatment of sleep disorders, Baczewska recorded best-selling albums Music for Dreams (over 25,000 copies sold). Performances have taken her to Carnegie Hall (NYC), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), National Center for Performing Arts (Beijing), Salle Cortot (Paris), Moores Opera House (Houston, TX), Merkin Hall (NYC), Steinway Hall (NYC), among others. As an avid educator, Baczewska has given piano master classes in the Central Conservatory (Beijing, China), Grassland International Music Festival (Hohhot, Inner Mongolia); International Keyboard Institute and Festival (NYC), and Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Laureate of international piano competitions, she is a recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Polish Minister of Culture. Baczewska holds degrees from Mannes College The New School for Music (B.M., M.M.), and Manhattan School of Music (D.M.A). She is currently Director of the Music Performance Program and Lecturer in Music at Columbia University in the City of New York.
This program is copresented by Fraunces Tavern Museum, the Historical Society of the New York Courts and Polish Cultural Institute New York.
Yamaha CF4 premium grand piano provided by Yamaha Artist Services, New York
