Resonance: Magdalena Baczewska in Concert

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This event will be held in English.

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Pianist Magdalena Baczewska, 2025–2026 Fellow of the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, examines the piano’s resonance as both an acoustic phenomenon and a poetic device. Through the works of Fryderyk Chopin, Henry Cowell, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, and Arvo Pärt, the listener is invited to explore the piano sound beyond the moment of touch - sound that vibrates and transforms, revealing an architecture of overtones, silence, and memory.

Tentative Program

Magdalena Baczewska, piano

Préludes, Book I (1910)

Claude Debussy

La Cathédrale engloutie

(1862–1918)

The Banshee (1925)

Henry Cowell

Aeolian Harp (1923)

(1897–1965)

Miroirs (1905)

Maurice Ravel

La vallée des cloches

(1875–1937)

Estampes (1903)

Claude Debussy

Pagodes

(1862–1918)

Music for Piano (1989)

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh

(b. 1947)

Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 39, No. 15 (1865)

Johannes Brahms

Hungarian Dance No. 5 (1869)

(1833–1897)

featuring Sophia Hackler, piano

Für Alina (1976)

Arvo Pärt

(b. 1935)

Selected Preludes, Op. 28 (1839)

Fryderyk Chopin

(1810–1849)

Estimated musical running time: 60 minutes

Please join us following the recital for a light cocktail reception.

Magdalena Baczewska (pronounced ba-CHEV-ska) is a Polish-American pianist and harpsichordist, recognized for her versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, academic administrator, and speaker. Described by the press as “Columbia professor by day, musical sorceress by night” (ConcertoNet), she is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of the Music Performance Program at Columbia University. Acclaimed for her "magnificent, unique voice that stylistically never falters" (Classical Music Guide), Baczewska has performed with prestigious orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra and has collaborated with artists like Joshua Bell and Tan Dun at venues including the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Beijing National Center for the Performing Arts.

Her repertoire spans centuries, from Renaissance and Baroque keyboard works on both piano and harpsichord to contemporary collaborations in genres like EDM and Hip Hop. Her double-bill performances of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on both instruments have garnered international acclaim. Baczewska’s discography includes albums that have been praised by the American Record Guide and The Gramophone. Her Robo Tribe Remix collaboration was featured on Beatport, the world’s largest DJ store. Her best-selling Music for Dreams album series, produced with Bluesleep, explores the intersection of music and medicine.

As an educator, Baczewska has given masterclasses at renowned institutions including the Beijing Central Conservatory, New York University, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Xi'an Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music. As a Yamaha Artist, she is a pioneer in long-distance teaching using the cutting-edge Yamaha Disklavier technology.

Baczewska is also an advocate for the next generation of musicians, serving on the juries of competitions such as the Cleveland Piano Competition, the Minnesota Piano e-Competition Auditions, the Borderlands Chopin Piano Competition, the Chopin International Piano Competition at the Kosciuszko Foundation in NYC, and the Canadian Chopin Competition.

Committed to equal access to musical enrichment, Baczewska published a series of public-facing lectures titled Bach@Home, and has collaborated with various organizations focused on democratizing access to music instruction, including the Musical Mentors Collaborative, the Grand Piano Series, and Tonebase.

Born in Poland to a family of musicians, Baczewska holds degrees from Mannes College and the Manhattan School of Music. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Polish Minister of Culture. She resides in New York City and spends her summer months teaching in the Music and Art Humanities Program at the Columbia Global Center in Paris.

MagdalenaNYC.com

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

Reid Hall, the Columbia Global Paris Center, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination are not responsible for the views and opinions expressed by their speakers and guests.

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