Composers / Witold Lutosławski / Places catalog

San Francisco

When Witold Lutosławski arrived with his wife in San Francisco in 1962, as part of a ‘goodwill tour’ organised by the Department of State, music lovers in that city were not entirely unfamiliar with his name, since a year earlier the local symphony orchestra had performed the Concerto for Orchestra, at the initiative of an ardent propagator of that work, Stanisław Skrowaczewski. Thirty years later, that same work was heard again, this time under the composer’s baton.

Lutosławski first stood on the conductor’s rostrum in San Francisco in 1986, leading a performance of Chain 3, composed for the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra to mark their seventy-fifth concert season. He donated his composer’s fee for a grant for young Polish composers, enabling them to study in the West; the weakness of the non-exchangeable Polish zloty made it extremely difficult for young musicians to undertake studies outside Poland.

Lutosławski’s contacts with the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra were excellent. When he returned here in January 1993, to celebrate his eightieth birthday with them, the orchestra surprised him with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ in an arrangement imitating the style of his music. And after the concert, before the audience left the auditorium, Anthony di Bonaventura, performing the solo part in the Piano Concerto, roused the listeners and intoned that birthday toast, inspiring the audience to join in.

Place Category
Aix-en-Provence Appearances
Aldeburgh Appearances
Amsterdam Appearances
Århus Education
Aspen Appearances
Austin Other
Baranów Sandomierski Other
Basel Other
Basztowa Street Performance spaces
Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts Other
BBC Orchestra and other ensembles Appearances
Belfast Other
Berea Performance spaces
Berlin Appearances
Białystok Education
Boston Appearances
Brisbane Other
Budapest Other
Calgary Education, Other
Cambridge Other
Celle Publishers / Bookshops
Chicago Appearances
Cincinnati Other
Cleveland Appearances
Cologne Other
Copenhagen Appearances
Cracow Philharmonic Performance spaces
Dartington Education
Donaueschingen Other
Dresden Other
Drozdowo Flats
Düsseldorf Appearances
Edinburgh Other
Evian Appearances
Filmography Radio / TV
Florence Appearances
Geneva Appearances
Glasgow Other
Graz Other
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Hagen Other, Performance spaces
Hamburg Other
Hanover (New Hampshire) Other
Helsinki Education
Herkulessaal Appearances, Performance spaces
Houston Other
Huddersfield Appearances
Indianapolis Other
Jagiellonian University Education
Katowice Other
Kazimierz nad Wisłą Other
Komorów Flats
Łagów Other
Lancaster Appearances
La Rochelle Appearances
Leeds Appearances
Leipzig Education, Performance spaces, Publishers / Bookshops
Lisbon Appearances
Liverpool Appearances
Łomża Education
London Sinfonietta Performance spaces
Los Angeles Appearances
Louisville (Kentucky) Other
Lublin Appearances
Lucerne Other
Madrid Appearances
Manchester Appearances
Mikołajki Other
Milan Appearances
Montreal Appearances
Moscow Appearances
Munich Philharmonic Appearances, Performance spaces
New York Appearances
Odense Education, Performance spaces
Olsztyn Education
Opio (near Grasse) Flats
Oslo Other
Paris Appearances
Pittsburgh Appearances
Poznań Other
Prague Appearances
PWM EDITION Publishers / Bookshops
Riga Performance spaces
Rome Other
Rotterdam Appearances
Royal Albert Hall Appearances, Performance spaces
Royal Philharmonic Society Appearances
Saint Paul (Minnesota) Other
Salzburg Other
San Francisco Appearances
Strasbourg Appearances
Stawisko
Stockholm Appearances
Sydney Appearances
Szczecin Other
Tanglewood Education, Other
Tokyo Appearances
Toronto Education
Toruń Education
Venice Performance spaces
Vienna Performance spaces
Villars-sur-Ollon Other
Warsaw Appearances, Flats, Other, Performance spaces
Washington Appearances
Wawel Appearances
Wehr near Rheinfelden Other
Wrocław Other, Performance spaces
Wzdów Other
Zagreb Performance spaces
Zegrze Other
Zurich Performance spaces