Living one block away from the Philharmonic Hall had a pronounced effect on my development. My earliest music education came from sitting in rehearsals of the Lodz Philharmonic Orchestra. I attended their concerts every week, at times twice a week. I went to their rehearsals whenever the opportunity presented itself. I also went to get autographs of the visiting artists, among them that of Arthur Rubinstein, Aram Khachaturian, David Oistrakh, and the then Music Director Henryk Czyz, who took interest in me.
He allowed me not only to sit in rehearsals but also to sit among the musicians within the orchestra. That taught me how to listen to the blend of sounds coming from the orchestra, and, more importantly, how to listen to the acoustical properties of the orchestral instruments. He suggested that I listen without a score. Himself a composer, Czyz became my first composition “guide”… READ MORE