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For those in the Metro New York area, or who need a trip

Head to the 8th Annual New York Polish Film Festival, being held Friday, May 4th through Tuesday, May 8th at the Indie Screen Theatre in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The New York Polish Film Festival (NYPFF) offers viewers an opportunity to celebrate Polish cinema and the rare opportunity to interact with the filmmakers themselves. NYPFF showcases features, shorts and documentaries created by distinguished filmmakers, both new and long-established. NYPFF is the largest festival promoting and presenting Polish films on the East Coast. This year the NYPFF is incorporating a new segment, “Neighboring Cinema.” This segment will present three awarded films from post communist countries — Russia, Rumania, and the Czech Republic.

This year the Film Festival is coming to trendy Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The screenings will take place at Indie Screen Theatre. Festival’s films will also be presented in Manhattan and Queens.

Thanks to NYPFF thousands have been afforded the opportunity to see Polish cinema in New York.

Art, Christian Witness, , ,

A joyful noise

From CBS 60 Minutes: Joy in the Congo: A musical miracle

“Joy in the Congo” seems an unlikely — even impossible — title for a story from the Congo, considering the searing poverty and brutal civil war that have decimated that country. Yet in Kinshasa, the capital city, we found an unforgettable symphony orchestra — 200 singers and instrumentalists defying the poverty, hardship, and struggles of life in the world’s poorest country…and creating some of the most moving music we have ever heard. Follow Bob Simon to the Congo to hear the sounds and stories of the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra.

Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political, , ,

Pol-Am writer interviews former NY State Lieutenant Governor Mary Anne Krupsak

Polish-american writer Linda C. Wisniewski interviews former New York State Lieutenant Governor Mary Anne Krupsak for her hometown newspaper, The Mohawk Valley Independent in The Pharmacist’s Daughter – An Interview With Former Amsterdamian & NYS Lt. Governor Mary Anne Krupsak

The interview is also included in Upstream 2 as part of Women’s History Month and part of the Independent’s Creative Mohawk Valley Women series.

She was a shy little girl, but when she sang in church, Mary Anne Krupsak’s coloratura voice came through loud and clear. She simply loved to sing, and her mother, an accomplished pianist and violinist, encouraged her. In the following interview, Amsterdam native and former Lieutenant Governor of New York Mary Anne Krupsak answers a few questions for Upstream…

Events, PNCC, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

PNCC Pastor, Fr. Bernard Nowicki to lead the 75th Pulaski Day parade in Manhattan

From The Jersey Journal: Bayonne pastor Rev. Bernard Nowicki to lead the 75th Pulaski Day parade in Manhattan and the Am-Pol Eagle.

Rev. Bernard Nowicki, pastor of the Heart of Jesus Polish National Catholic Church in Bayonne, will lead the contingent for the 2012 tri-state Pulaski Day parade in Manhattan and for the activities in celebration of the 75th anniversary year.

His selection was announced by Richard Romelczyk, chairman of the Bayonne Pulaski Memorial Parade Committee.

Fr. Nowicki was honored at a Sashing Brunch on April 14 at the Chandelier Restaurant in Bayonne.

Fr. Nowicki is a native of western New York where he participated in the Polish dancing troupe founded by his mother, participated in a seven-week church youth excursion to Poland, was a presenter of Polish language declamations and poetry at celebratory occasions, and appeared in various stage presentations.

Fr. Nowicki served as the pastor of two parishes in the Pittsburgh area where he met and married Barbara Ann Liberasky. They have a daughter, Berit Elizabeth, who resides in Massachusetts.

Fr. Nowick is chaplain of the NY-NJ Seniorate United Choirs, a chapter of the PNC National United Choirs (NUC) that was organized to advance and preserve Polish musical culture.

Art, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , ,

Upcoming Piano Recital by Maciej Grzybowski

A Recital by a noted virtuoso from Poland, Maciej Grzybowski, will take place at the First Presbyterian Church (1220 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401) on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. The program will include music by Polish composers (Paweł Mykietyn, Witold Lutosławski, Paweł Szymański, Fryderyk Chopin), and Western classics – Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel.

Born and educated in Warsaw, Poland, Mr. Grzybowski, the winner of numerous prizes, has recorded for EMI and other companies, participated in festivals in Europe, Asia and the Americas, and has championed Polish music worldwide. Bohdan Pociej, one of the most famous Polish music critics said: “How refreshing and exciting it is to be in the presence of such great art of interpretation!”

The program is presented by the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club. Tickets are $15 at the door. Contact Krystyna Bartkowski at 818-248-3713 for more information and to make a reservation.

Events, , , ,

New York Folklore Events and Opportunities

Mid-Atlantic Folklorists’ Retreat and New York Folk Arts Roundtable, May 23-25, 2012

“Sustaining Culture: A Regional Conversation,” will bring together folk and traditional arts practitioners, professionals and enthusiasts from the mid-Atlantic region and New England. The meeting includes professional development workshops, a conversation with local cultural activists, documentary film screening, and field trips, along with the opportunity to meet informally with your peers. Public sector and academic folklorists, community scholars, tradition bearers, students, and others interested in traditional culture are welcome to attend. Over 75 participants are expected, so don’t miss this opportunity to network!

A Call for Presentations — Music of the Erie Canal Symposium – November 2-3, 2012

The New York Folklore Society, in conjunction with the Erie Canal Museum, will be hosting a public symposium about the Music of the Erie Canal on November 2 and 3, 2012. We invite presentations, papers, and demonstrations on the Music of the Erie Canal. Possible themes include songs and the folk process; the creation of community; archives and collections; popular music of the Canal; and the Erie Canal as presented in music education, but we are open to other potential themes as well. Papers and presentations should be no more than 20 minutes in length; performances, demonstrations or lecture-demonstrations should be no more than 30 minutes in length. Poster presentations and other presentation formats will also be considered.

Community Cultural Documentation for Schenectady and the Mohawk Valley

A collaborative project of the New York Folklore Society and the Schoharie River Center, with support from the William Gundry Broughton Charitable Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts

The New York Folklore Society is pleased to announce that it will be launching an ongoing out-of-school documentation program for Schenectady-area teens. If you are between the ages of 12 and 18 and are interested in exploring your community’s history and culture, and would like to learn real-life skills of interviewing, video and audio documentation, this program is for you!

Please call the New York Folklore Society at (518) 346-7008 or send an E-mail to receive updates and further information.

Discovering Community Institute for Educators, A Program of the Vermont Folklife Center

The Discovering Community Summer Institute offers educators the opportunity to explore the power of field research as a means to facilitate student engagement with their home communities.

Over the course of an intensive, week-long program participants will work with cultural researchers, documentary media specialists, artists, and fellow educators in a learning environment that models an ethnographic approach to community enquiry. The Institute brings together place as the context, sustainability as the goal, and service-learning as the strategy.

Art, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Xpost to PGF, ,

New Cross-Promotion event to feature Polish Singer Magda Kaminska

International Exhibits to be Part of New Events at Convocation Center
Magda Kaminski to Sing at Basketball Doubleheader
Courtesy of Polish Times

YPSILANTI– Something new has been added to the Eastern Michigan University basketball doubleheader on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Convocation Center. Polish-American Heritage Day will be celebrated along with some new attractions.

Polish singing sensation Magda Kaminski, in the middle of her Midwest tour dates will be featured. She will do some selections from her current CD and will also appear locally Friday, February 24, at a Polish pop showcase at the PNA Hall – Dom Związkowy on Conant Avenue in Hamtramck.

The women’s varsity will take on Kent State at 2:00 p.m. and the men host perennial Mid-American Conference power Ohio University at 4:30 p.m.

The afternoon will also be highlighted with an Art Show in the Convocation Center atrium. There will be art for sale along with educational and historical exhibits and the Wawel Folk Dancing Ensemble showcase. The ever popular EMU mascot, ‘SWOOP’ will entertain and Telewizja-Detroit will video messages for European broadcast. The ‘EMU SPIRIT’ dance team along with the Pep Band will be performing throughout the day.

The two largest Polish fraternal organizations, Polish National Alliance and PRCUA are sponsoring the dance activities. The E-Club, an organization of athletic letter winners will be presenting this year’s Hall of Fame inductees during halftime of the women’s game.

Also, included with a game ticket will be a free chance at a $1,000 MacBook among other prizes. For out-of-town visitors there is a special basketball package available.

Christian Witness, Perspective, , , , , ,

Prayer Vigil for the 1%

Interfaith Worker Justice will hold a Prayer Vigil for the 1% tomorrow, December 8th. You are invited to pray along, starting at 11 a.m., for the wealthiest Americans. We are calling on them to help us create an economy that works for 100 percent of us.

If you are on Facebook, you may RSVP to the Online Prayer Vigil. Then, tomorrow at 11 a.m., change your Facebook status to say: Praying for the One Percent: to whom much is given, more is required — Luke 12:48.

While thousands of unemployed workers and people of faith gather in Washington, D.C. tomorrow for a Flower Prayer Vigil for the 99 percent, I will be praying along with IWJ for the One Percent – the wealthiest Americans who have benefitted from unfair economic policies.

Please join in prayer, even if you’re not on Facebook.

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, IWJ’s national Board of Directors released “An Open Letter to the One Percent:”

To Whom Much Is Given, More is Required:
An Open Letter to the One Percent

During this time of financial crisis and economic disparity, we affirm the God-given dignity of every person. We believe God loves all 100 percent of us and wants to use us to create a more just society.

As faith leaders, we appreciate the generosity, charity, and commitment to the common good that many of you embody.

Still, some of you have used wealth and power to benefit the few at the expense of the many. We expect you to work with us to not only give generously, but to advocate for democracy and economic justice that works for everyone.

We call on you to:

  • Support tax policies and legislation that require more from you so our nation can create good jobs in America
  • Call for an extension of unemployment benefits for those unable to find work

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” We are in this together, all 100 percent of us.

National Board of Directors, Interfaith Worker Justice

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