SAN DIEGO — The Canadian-born pianist, Daniel Wnukowski, displayed his talents as an accomplished artist and an insightful teacher in a live-streamed program last Sunday afternoon, sponsored by the Amateur Pianists.
He selected three works from three distinct musical periods, the Baroque, the Classical and the Romantic, which he analyzed and contrasted before treating us to beautiful renditions of each. His program consisted of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue #2 from the Well-Tempered Clavichord, the Theme and Variations from Mozart’s Piano Sonata in A major, and Chopin’s 3rd Ballade.
Wnukowski is well-known to many in San Diego. He has soloed with the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra under David Amos, performed in the Solana Salon Concerts at the home of Monique Kunewalder and presented a lecture-recital for UC San Diego music students on the topic of exiled Jewish composers. The music of interwar Jewish composers has occupied a special place in Wnukowski’s repertoire.
He studied at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw Poland, at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in England. He has performed with orchestras in Poland, China, Canada and the U.S., and given recitals all over the world. Many of his performances have been broadcast.
In addition to his affinity for exiled Jewish composers, he is an acclaimed interpreter of the music of Polish composers, especially Chopin, and has participated in piano festivals world-wide. At his Carnegie Hall debut last year, where he performed a rarely heard sonata by Karol Rathaus, an exiled Jewish composer, the New York Classical Review called him a “pianist to watch.” Those of us who watched him last Sunday certainly agree.
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Eileen Wingard, a retired violinist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eileen.wingard@sdjewishworld.com
A magnificent article. You captured the essence of Daniel’s
magically performed and informative concert, as well as his
passion for the music composed from the Holocaust.
Thank you.
YOU ARE AMAZING AND WONDERFUL AND INSIGHTFUL AND THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR SPREADING OUTSTANDING NEWS ABOUT EXCELLENT MUSICIANS WHO SPECIALIZE IN PROMOTING MUSIC OF HOLOCAUST COMPOSERS AND HELPING TO SPREAD THOSE FORGOTTEN SOUNDS AROUND THE WORLD!!!