November 11, 2018 marks centenary of Poland’s Independence after 123 years of absence from the map of Europe as a result of being partitioned by its neighbors: Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Poland regained independence through a long, persistent fight (including several Uprisings) and the steadfastness of the Polish people maintaining their culture, language, pride, customs, and beliefs despite living […]
Free concert by Prof. Igor Lipinski – solo classical piano of fi...
At this FREE CONCERT, Igor Lipinski will perform music by 19th through 21st century Polish composers: Fryderyk (Frederic) Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Grazyna Bacewicz, Pawel Mykietyn. Since classical music from Poland has been rarely performed in concert halls in Madison, this recital will be a rare occasion to experience Poland’s musical heritage and […]
Reflections on WOMEX17 World Music Fest
Wandering WORT world music host Gloria Hays shared her experiences at this year’s WOMEX festival on Jan. 13-14 during our Panafrica and On The Horizon shows. Listen to them on-demand here, and read on to learn more about her musical travels! Roma meets Scandanavia at a booth in the Expo Center (with WORT volunteers Dan Talmo […]
WORT at WOMEX 2017 Part 5 by Dan Talmo
Here’s one last installment from WOMEX 2017 in Katowice, Poland. For me, the networking dimension of WOMEX was much bigger this year than the past two years. The trade show hall comfortably fit all 300 trade stands. One could easily roam from stand to stand, make new connections, or stumble onto old friends. • Madison […]
Law & Justice Party Continues to Consolidate its Power in Poland
In 2015, the Polish Law and Justice Party, also known as PiS, won 235 of 460 seats in the Sejm (saym), the lower house of the Polish Parliament, and 61 of 100 seats in the Polish Senate, the first party since the fall of the Communist regime to win an outright majority in Parliament. Since […]
WORT at WOMEX 2017 Part 4, by Dan Talmo
In a previous post, I said that the bulk of our evenings were spent running among five stages which totaled 15 bands each night. Of the 45 bands presented over the three evenings of the conference, we managed to hear at least one tune from just 15 of the bands. Let’s recap the best of […]