Teaching Fellow Dr Daniel Elphick is closely involved with celebrations for the centenary of Polish-Jewish-Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg this year, including upcoming events at the Wigmore Hall in London.
On Saturday 26 October, the Wigmore presents a ‘Weinberg Focus Day’, with three concerts curated by German violinist Linus Roth; Dan will be introducing each of the concerts. At 5:30pm, there is a launch event for the publication of Dan’s book, Music Behind the Iron Curtain: Weinberg and his Polish Contemporaries, which includes a drinks reception. The book presents an overview of Weinberg’s music through his string quartets, and also examines cultural relations between Poland and the USSR since 1939. It draws on extensive interviews and correspondence, and features several sources never previously available in print.
Tickets are available for the Wigmore Hall concerts; under-35s can get tickets for just £5. For several other upcoming Weinberg-related concerts, under-25s can get tickets for free – this includes the Quatuor Danel's concert on Thursday 24 October, part of their double-cycle of the complete quartets by Weinberg and also Shostakovich, with concerts into 2021.
Dan has been heavily involved with events to mark the Weinberg centenary, including a talk at this year’s BBC Proms, together with Royal Holloway Visiting Professor, Erik Levi. Dan will be giving talks around Europe ahead of the centenary date (8 December), including Katowice, Warsaw, and Moscow.
Music Behind the Iron Curtain is now available from Cambridge University Press.
