Łukasz Yoder
Praised by the Los Angeles Opus for his “liquid sensitivity” and “formidable power” as a soloist, and for his “discreet exactitude” as a collaborative pianist, the inspiration for Łukasz’s pianism can perhaps best be traced to his experiences of the thunderous power of a twelve foot wave, or the sensuous delicacy of a desert sunset. Grand Prize Winner of the Landsum International Music Festival, Łukasz is a top prizewinner of the Beverly Hills National Auditions, Claudette Sorel International Piano Competition in Fredonia, New York, Classics Alive National Auditions, The Kosciuszko Foundations National Chopin Competition in Washington D.C, The International Chopin Competition in Hartford, Connecticut, Glendale Piano Competition, MTAC, MTNA, CAPMT State Finals, and the statewide Kathryn Gawartin Chopin Competition.
Łukasz has toured extensively on both coasts of the United States, Europe and Puerto Rico, in venues that include Zipper Hall of the Colburn School of Music, the Polish Embassy in Washington DC, the Kosciuszko Foundation’s headquarters in NYC, the Steinway Society of Puerto Rico, the Dzialynski Palace and White Hall of Poznań, Poland, as well as Żelazowa Wola, Chopin's birthplace.
2022-2023 highlights include performances in the “Music at a Mansion” Concert Series at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, top prizes in the Antelope Valley and UCLA All Stars Concerto competition, and most recently a mini tour of the west with UCLA Professor and internationally renowned actor Marek Probosz, with whom he performed the Los Angeles and Seattle premieres of the award-winning show “Norvid’s Return” at the Odyssey Theatre here in LA and Polish Cultural center in Seattle, with summer highlights including further performances in Zielona Góra as well as Zamość, Poland, where he performed a solo concert as part of the Rzeka En Foundation.
Earlier in 2020-21 Łukasz embarked on a whirlwind tour of Southern California, performing on the Noontime Concert Series at Los Angeles City College, the Modrzejewska Club Evening Concerts, The Music by the Sea Concert Series in Encinitas, and the Interludes Concert Series in Torrance, Stan Harris Music Parlor, as well as the Classical Encounters Concert Series in Orange County.
He has recorded for Polish Radio and Television, and been featured in the Polish and American Press. Lukasz is currently studying at the UCLA Herp Alpert School of Music on a full scholarship, under the tutelage Professor Inna Faliks, Chair of the Piano Department. He continues to be mentored by his mother, Róża Kostrzewska Yoder, as well as American Pianist Garrick Ohlsson. Łukasz had a unique upbringing. He grew up homeschooled, and his mother taught him piano until college and teaches his two younger brothers. He documents his pianistic and modeling career, as well as random adventures on his Instagram, where he can be found as: @lukasz_yoder
Recent interview by Shoutout LA (October 2022):
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-lukasz-yoder-pianist-model-reality-tv-star/
Olivia Kierdal
Born in a Polish family in Sydney, Australia, Kierdal is a singer, classically trained pianist, songwriter and producer. She studied at Macquarie University in Sydney, receiving a scholarship to study abroad in California State University, Fullerton in 2014, and living in California since that time. She has over 2,000,000 viewers on Spotify where she posted nearly 20 songs.
Link to a recent interview by Shoutout LA (February 2023):
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-olivia-kierdal-songwriter-artist-and-producer/
Papcio Chmiel Udomowiony
The Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club invites all members and guests of the Club to a special event on Saturday, November 18th, 2023 at 6:30 pm, for a hot dinner and conversation with Monique Chmielewska Lehman and Artur Chmielewski about their father Henryk Chmielewski and the presentation of their book, entitled Papcio Chmiel Udomowiony.
SURPRISE GUEST: Hugh Welchman, screenwriter and filmmaker of "The Peasants" ("Chlopi") film , based on Nobel-Prize winning novel by Wladyslaw Reymont, will attend and discuss his career as a surprise late addition to the program. He gives a presentation for Deadline in the morning, and will be interviewed in English after the Lehman presentation. The film was nominated by Poland to the Academy Awards. Other movies are Loving Vincent, and La View en Rose about Edith Piaf. Plenty to talk about!
Please feel free to bring a variety of homemade baked goods and desserts, and your favorite beverages for the buffet.
DETAILS
Papcio Chmiel Udomowiony
When: Saturday, November 18th, 2023 at 6:30 pm
Where: the residence of Monique Chmielewski Lehman and David Lehman
RSVP: Secretary Beata Czajkowska, beata.j.czajkowska@gmail.com
Admission is free for Club members, for guests $20 per person.
Zbigniew Nyczak Presents His Art
The Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club is pleased to invite its members and guests to a meeting on Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 6 p.m. at Playa Vista - Centerpointe Club (6200 Playa Vista Dr, Playa Vista, CA 90094). A lecture about his art, richly illustrated with slides, will be given by the outstanding painter Zbigniew Nyczak, a long-time member of our Club. After the lecture, we invite you to a reception. Please don't forget desserts and your favorite drinks.
DETAILS
Zbigniew Nyczak Presents His Art
When: Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 6 p.m.
Where: Playa Vista - Centerpointe Club (6200 Playa Vista Dr, Playa Vista, CA 90094).
RSVP: prezes@modjeska.org
Admission is free for Club members, for guests $20 per person, payable at the entrance. Parking is under the hall.
Zbigniew Nyczak is a graduate of the Faculty of Interior Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw (1976 – 1981). He has been living and creating in Los Angeles for over forty years. His paintings have won recognition in many circles of the artistic world; his artwork is also enjoying the interest of art sponsors and collectors both in the United States and abroad. His works have been presented in many renowned art institutions, including galleries, museums and exhibitions, to mention only the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, the Autry Western Heritage Museum in Los Angeles, the Old West Museum in Cheyenne and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery of American Art and Portraiture in Washington, where his portrait of William Schomaker has become part of the permanent exhibition. Three years ago, this image was printed as a 30-foot banner and placed on the façade of the building as a unique advertisement for this renowned museum.
Nyczak's work can be seen in many cities, including New York, San Francisco, San Antonio, Palm Springs, Lexington, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Pasadena and the Simic gallery on the famous Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. In addition, his works have also found their way to international locations such as Warsaw, Dubai, Vienna, Paris and Nairobi. As a representative of the United States, he was invited by an Arab sheikh to Dubai, where he presented his series of racehorse paintings, focused on the world's best horse races. In the neighboring Emirate of Sharjah, he also taught painting classes at the local university for the son and daughter of the reigning sheikh.
Nyczak was also invited to Poland by the producers of the historical epic film Ogniem i Mieczem (With Fire and Sword) to create documentation in the form of oil paintings, which served as elements of the film's promotion. These works have been featured in exhibitions and TV broadcasts, and all 20 paintings have been sold in an online auction conducted for a week on the morning programs of the TV station Polsat. The artist also created an oil portrait of Hugh Hefner's residence, Playboy Mansion West, which was used in the artist's successful promotion at a major gala, and then entered the host's private collection.
In Laguna Beach, Nyczak opened his own art gallery, where, as president of the artistic group of artists Contempo Art Association, he also supported other artists. Thanks to his intense artistic activity, he gained recognition and interest from many sponsors, including such prominent figures as Aaron Spelling, Hugh Hefner, Dick Kelly (Clinton's stepfather) and the Shoemaker Foundation. The subject matter of his works is extremely diverse, and his motto is: "It's not important what we paint, but how we do it." Zbigniew Nyczak is also a member of prestigious art organizations such as Oil Painters of America, American Plains Artists and California Art Club.
His artwork is on display as part of the exhibit: "Artists of Modjeska Club: 50 Years of Art" at the Vienna Woods Gallery (351 S. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA), to the end of November.
50 Years of Art at Modjeska Club
50 Years of Art: Artists of the Modjeska Club is an exhibit of artwork by five eminent Polish American painters and artists (here listed in chronological order, below by last name): Stanislaw Szukalski, Leonard Konopelski, Zbigniew Nyczak, Slawek Wisniewski, and Janusz Maszkiewicz.
DETAILS
50 Years of Art at Modjeska Club - Exhibition Opening at Vienna Woods
When: opening reception will take place on Saturday, 23 September 2023, at 6 pm (on view from September 23 to October 22)
Where: Held at Vienna Woods Gallery, 351 South La Brea Blvd, Los Angeles 90036
RSVP: prezes@modjeska.org
to 20 September 2023.
Zyciorys - A Biography, a Play about Zbigniew Herbert
A BIOGRAPHY (ŻYCIORYS) poetic monodrama based on texts by Zbigniew Herbert; sscreenplay, direction and execution: Wojciech Wysocki; live music: Piotr Kajetan Matczuk; performed in Polish, no subtitles.
Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club invites all members and friends of the Club to a theatrical performance directed and performed by the Polish actor Wojciech Wysocki with live music by Piotr Kajetan Matczuk.
The performance will take place on Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 6:30 (from 7:00 pm no one will be able to enter the auditorium) at Illusion Magic Theater (formerly Magicopolis), 1418 4th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, free admission, RSVP prezes@modjeska.org. The seating is limited and seats are not numbered. RSVP early.
The event is part of the Spring of Polish Culture in the Western United States, supported by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles.
The Consulate supports three projects of the Club with grants:
1) a lecture by Katarzyna Winnicka,
2) the Hybrydy Theatre,
3) the Wojciech Wysocki Theater with the play
Życiorys/Biography and music by Piotr Matczuk. The grants pay for the venue rental and AV technician costs. Since these events are supported by the Consulate, they are free to the general public.
Happy Easter
On the occasion of Easter and Passover, we would like to wish all Club Members and friends of our Club the best of health, joy, peace and prosperity. Let the Easter holiday be happy, sunny, and colorful - we've had enough of this rain, cold and grayness - both literally and symbolically. Enclosed are Easter eggs painted in onion skins, and the Resurrection images by Giotto and Malczewski. Pure joy! Additionally, a brief poem by Joanna Kulmowa:
15th-19th -Century Icons & the Work of Zdzisław Beksinski
In the Collections of the Historical Museum in Sanok
Lecture by Katarzyna Winnicka of Poland