An International Conference, „Roman Ryterband as an heir and advocate of Polish musical traditions in the United States,” will take place at the Łódź Music Academy on 30 November 2019. The programme will include a concert, scholarly presentations and the unveiling of a memorial plaque.
This will be the first such event in Poland devoted to life and music of Roman Ryterband— composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. Born in Łódź 105 years ago in 1914, Ryterband was a world citizen who died in Palm Springs, California, in 1979. Living outside Poland after 1939, he successfully developed his artistic career, residing, in turn, in Switzerland, Canada and, for almost 20 years, in the United States. Nonetheless, he did not neglect his links to Polish culture and traditions, as witnessed by his activities as artist and promoter, as well as by his music that is inspired by Polish history and folklore. Ryterband’s musical career began in Łódź; he wrote his first composition here while still a teenager. He studied music at the Helena Kijeńska-Dobkiewiczowa Music Academy and, before the war, had worked for Łódź Radio and collaborated with local theatres. The first concerts featuring his works were also held here, in Łódź.
The goals of this international Conference are to rediscover and return Roman Ryterband’s rich musical opus to Polish audiences who had no chance to hear it in Poland during the composer’s life and after his death. The organizers of the Conference, “Roman Ryterband as an heir and advocate of Polish music traditions in the United States” include the Grażyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Music Academy in Łódź and the Polish Music Center at the University of Southern California, where a collection of documents and manuscripts of compositions by Roman Ryterband are held. The honorary guests of the Conference will include members of Roman Ryterband’s family, who will travel to Poland for the first time.
Scholarly presentations about Roman Ryterband are scheduled for Saturday, 30 November, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Hall 31 of the Music Academy. A concert of solo, chamber and choral works by Roman Ryterband will follow at 4 p.m. in the Academy’s Chamber Hall. The participating artists will include musicians and scholars from the USC Thornton School of Music and Polish Music Center in Los Angeles, as well as performers from music academies and conservatories in Łódź, Kraków, and Prague.
A plaque commemorating Roman Ryterband will be officially unveiled on Friday, November 29, at the composer’s birthplace on Narutowicza 40
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information at: http://www.amuz.lodz.pl/pl/wydarzenia/pamieci-romana-ryterbanda