The idea of founding the VCS came to Iko Bylicki’s mind in late 1996 when he heard about the ten-year-old prodigy, pianist Stanislaw Drzewiecki, son of the famous Russian pianist, Tatiana Shebanova, who was married to Polish pianist, Jaroslaw Drzewiecki. Presenting this musical family to Vancouver audiences seemed like a great idea; however, this required some organizational structure. It seemed natural and timely to consider starting a Chopin society for Vancouver, since the International Federation of Chopin Societies, founded in Warsaw in 1985, was receiving quick recognition, and many new Chopin societies were launched around the world.
Sharing this idea with other Polish enthusiasts resulted in The Vancouver Chopin Society being [...]
The idea of founding the VCS came to Iko Bylicki’s mind in late 1996 when he heard about the ten-year-old prodigy, pianist Stanislaw Drzewiecki, son of the famous Russian pianist, Tatiana Shebanova, who was married to Polish pianist, Jaroslaw Drzewiecki. Presenting this musical family to Vancouver audiences seemed like a great idea; however, this required some organizational structure. It seemed natural and timely to consider starting a Chopin society for Vancouver, since the International Federation of Chopin Societies, founded in Warsaw in 1985, was receiving quick recognition, and many new Chopin societies were launched around the world.
Sharing this idea with other Polish enthusiasts resulted in The Vancouver Chopin Society being incorporated on April 22, 1997 under the Society Act of British Columbia with Tadeusz van Wollen as president, Eryk Sitkowiecki as artistic director, Iko Bylicki as vice-president, Malgorzata Burczycka as secretary, and Tadeusz Dukszta as treasurer. In the same year, the VCS officially became a member if the IFCS. However, the first concert did not occur until a year later, on April 19, 1998, in the Vancouver Playhouse. Teresa Bobrowska, our current secretary, joined us after that first concert.
Being able to continue and survive the very first seasons and build the foundation for the Society was possible because of the outstanding dedication of, among others, two ladies, Elizabeth Czetwertynski, an incredibly charming old lady who was able to bring around a hundred people for each concert since nobody could refuse her convincing power, and Dr. Maria Bleszynski, whose financial generosity rescued the Society from sinking a number of times.
The very first member of the Society was Masanao Morimura, the Japanese scientist, who retired in Canada in the nineties. He played piano very well and was extremely fond of Chopin’s music, and he was developing a web site about Chopin and writing a book. He passed away on May 27, 2012, a few days after he had renewed his subscription.
The first concerts were held in the Norman Rothstein Theatre, but in the second half of the 1999/2000 season, the board decided to move the concerts to the auditorium of the Vancouver Academy of Music. In 2006, the board decided to move the concerts to Magee Theatre, and since then, the concert series is presented in three venues, the Vancouver Playhouse, the Chan Centre, and the Magee Theatre.
Conductor Grzegorz Nowak became the VCS’s artistic director in 1999, holding the post through 2004. After Mr. Nowak left Canada, Lee Kum-Sing, respected piano teacher, worldwide, became the artistic director, and has remained so since.
And twenty seven seasons after The Vancouver Chopin Society was inaugurated, two members, Teresa Bobrowska, and Iko Bylicki are still working on the board of the VCS, feeling privileged to be part of such a competent and dedicated board such as we have today.
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