Brian Ganz and the Borowsky Family to Perform Concert in Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland - (December 6, 2011) - Classical pianist, Brian Ganz and the musical Borowsky family are presenting a concert "Music for an Autumn Evening: Chamber Music with Brian Ganz, the Borowsky Family, and Friends."   The Saturday, December 17th concert, featuring compositions of Johannes Brahms and Erno Dohnanyi, begins at 7:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, 333 Dubois Road.  Tickets are $15 (available at the door) and the proceeds will benefit the programs and ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis. Call 410-266-8044 for more information.

“The two major works we will perform are the luscious Trio in B Major, Op. 8 by Johannes Brahms, for piano, violin and cello, and the majestic Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 1 by Erno Dohnanyi, for piano and string quartet.” said Ganz. "I will also perform three movements of Ma mere l'oye - a work I truly adore."

The Brahms composition will be performed by Blanka Bednarz, violin Cecylia Barczyk, cello and Brian Ganz, piano.  The music of Dohnanyi will be played by Blanka Bednarz, violin I, Emmanuel Borowsky, violin II, Sharon Eng, viola, Frances Grace Borowsky, cello and Brian Ganz, piano. The Ravel will be performed with pianist Elizabeth Borowsky.

Ganz continued, “I have worked with the Borowsky family for years at the International Music Institute and Festival (IMIF) at Mt. St. Mary's University. Charles Borowsky created and runs the festival with his daughter, the marvelous pianist Elizabeth Borowsky.  Charles' wife Cecylia Barczyk and their three children are all superb performers. This is an extraordinary family of gifted musicians and lovely people, deeply committed to educating youth in creative and passionate ways. The other concert musicians are faculty from IMIF as well.”

Annapolis based Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. He began his quest to perform all of Frédéric Chopin’s works in January 2010 at the Music Center at Strathmore. The soldout recital marked the start of Ganz’s ambitious endeavor to perform the approximately 250 works of Chopin over the next decade.  The next concert in the series will take place at Strathmore on February 11.

Since his January 2011 Chopin recital, Ganz has performed the Grieg piano concerto with the National Philharmonic under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski and Beethoven’s first concerto with the National Symphony of Costa Rica under the baton of Mykola Diadiura. He has toured northern California with the Palomarin Chamber Music Foundation and played in Italy with the Alba Music Festival. In January, he will make his first appearances in South America as he takes part in the Cartagena Music Festival in Colombia. 

Ganz has shared First Grand Prize in the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris and won a silver medal (third prize) in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition. He has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia and Paris’s L’Orchestre Lamoureux and under the direction of conductors such as Leonard Slatkin and Mstislav Rostropovich. He is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Leon Fleisher. Ganz is a member of the piano faculty of Peabody and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Violinist Emmanuel Borowsky, 25, has been lauded as an engaging and communicative performer. He has performed recitals and concerts throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and has frequently been featured on television and radio programs. His recordings for ICRecords have been enthusiastically received by the public as well as music critics. At the age of seventeen he received the Erick Friedman Prize for Outstanding Young Musicians and performed his New York Debut at Carnegie Hall. Emmanuel has frequently performed together with his sisters Elizabeth (piano) and Frances (cello). Together they are called The Young American Virtuosi.  

Frances Grace Borowsky is a young, gifted cellist.  She drew the attention of great cello masters as a highly gifted and expressive young musician at the age of seven. She has performed throughout the USA as well as around the world. Frances has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, Young German Symphony Orchestra, and Towson University Orchestra with conductors such as Klaus Arp, Brenda Leach, and Juan-zi Yi.

Cecylia Barczyk, cellist, has achieved international recognition as a complete artist, successful teacher, and humanitarian.  She is also the mother of Emmanuel, Frances Grace and Elizabeth Borowsky. She has given concerts, recitals, and master classes throughout Europe, Asia, North and South America and has appeared as a soloist with prominent orchestras including those of Amman, Baltimore, Beijing, Berlin, Boston, Berlin, Bucharest, Budapest, Jakarta, Leipzig, London, Moscow, New York, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Seoul, Shanghai, Sofia, St. Petersburg, Taiwan, Tel Aviv, Tianjin, Tokyo, and Warsaw. She has frequently performed on radio and television and has recorded much of the standard and new cello literature – as well as works composed especially for her – on the Muza, ICRecords, Melodya, and CRS labels. 


Dr. Sharon Eng, viola, is a seasoned international strings educator, clinician, chamber recitalist and conductor. She has performed world premieres of solo viola works and has appeared as guest soloist, chamber musician and master class clinician in 11 countries on six continents. She completed her Bachelor and Master degrees in viola performance at the Juilliard School.  She has performed with the New York City Opera, Kennedy Center Orchestra and Washington 20th Century Consort. She has performed solo viola and with orchestras at the Athens Opera House; New York Lincoln Center; and Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral.

Blanka Bednarz, violin, enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, concertmaster and teacher. She has concertized in the USA, United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Lithuania.  She has performed at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. As a soloist Bednarz has appeared with the Connecticut Virtuosi, the Georgia Southern Symphony, the Great Poland Symphony, Sinfonietta Polonia, the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Honors Symphony and Chamber Orchestra.