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Our Membership
:

First Tenors: Dave Anderson, Zbyszek Dera, Victor Jaskot, Paul Kozdeba, Richard Vetanovitz, Thomas Tencza
Second Tenors: John Budzinski, John Buklad, Richard Daszczyszak, Brent Iskra, Mark Janiak , Janek Kopacz, Adam Majdanski
Baritones:Stanley Dymczak, Louis Gill, Stanley Kobylarz, Jozef Slusarczk, Artur Sroka, Piotr Stroz, Jerry Wlodarczyk, Kazimierz Ziemba,
Bass: Piotr Frey, Irek Maciag, Marcin Malec, Zbigniew Niejadlik, Sebastian Stopka, Edward Visocky

History:

Now Celebrating Our 100th Anniversary :

1910-2010

The Chopin Singing Society #182 Polish Singers Alliance of America of Passaic, NJ, is one of the oldest independent male choral groups still active in the United States. The Society was officially organized on March 10, 1910, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin's birth. The choral group's first Musical Director was Edmund A. Sennert.
Click here to see the current musical director, Alicja Rusewicz-Pagorek.   The Society's first performance was a commemorative program honoring Polish patriots who fought and died in the 1830 revolt against Russian occupation. When World War I began, seventy-five per cent of the chorus joined the newly organized American Legion of the Polish Army. After the Armistice, the chorus reorganized and one of its first accomplishments was to appear in the American performance of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Il Trovatore starring Giovanni Martinelli.

The choir has achieved the highest score at international choral competitions of the Polish Singers Alliance of America (PSAA). In doing so, the choir has been awarded the traveling Cardinal Hlond Trophy and maintains the distinction of being the only chorus to win the trophy three times, twice in succession.

Hlond Trophy

The Cardinal Hlond Trophy

The choir prides itself in having in its repertoire the ability to sing Polish, classical, folk and patriotic songs, a complete Latin mass, as well as American classic and barber shop songs. The Society's busiest time of the year is the Christmas season Fulfilling requests to present its time-honored Polish Christmas concert and to appear as guest choir during the celebration of Mass at many churches throughout the Metropolitan area. Also, in 1997 and 1998 the Society was the featured choir with the Jimmy Sturr Christmas Show tour appearing at Felician College, Lodi, New Jersey and in theaters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Middletown, New York; Springfield, Masachusetts; Easton, Pennsylvania and the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

The Chorus has two recordings to its credit: Polskie koledy (Polish Christmas Carols) and Songs of Poland, a mix of traditional Polish songs.This album (Songs of Poland) was remastered into a CD this year and is currently available. Also, this year, the chorus introduced a new CD of traditional Polish Christmas Carols which is available by mail. For more information, contact Chopin by E-Mail.The success of the Chopin Singing Society stems from its members' dedication and desire to promote and maintain Polish Culture through song.

"This project is funded, in part
, by the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council at Passaic County Community College, through a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts"  


 

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