Romantic Interactions

On 5 April 2019 Anna performed a narrated piano recital of Chopin's music to conclude the international conference "Romantic Interactions" held at the Polish Academy of Skills, Kraków,  Below you will find a review of the conference and Anna's performance by prof. Charlotte May (University of Nottingham):

The conference ended with Nicola Watson (Open University) taking us on a tour of R'VE (Romantic Europe: The Virtual Exhibition), an invaluable resource on how Romanticism has been defined and charted since its beginnings in the eighteenth century to the present day. Watson provided us with the example of ?Shakespeare?s chair and the Polish Princess?,  Monika Coghen (our wonderful host at Jagiellonian University) spoke on ?Kościuszko?s Mound?, and Miros?awa Modrzewska (University of Gdańsk) joined us on Skype to speak about ?Chopin?s Piano?, three important contributions to the visual exhibition. The conference ended with a rendition of the selected works of Frederick Chopin told through the chronology of Chopin?s interactions with his Scottish patron Jane Stirling by Marcin Jaroszek, accompanied by the wonderful pianist Anna Dębowska. This recovery of Stirling as a supporter and driving-force of Chopin?s career showed how instrumental sociability was in the development of artistic careers and the movement of Romanticism itself. The essential role of women in founding and sculpting the movement of Romanticism had been referred to throughout the conference, particularly in the papers of Vitana Kostadinova (University of Plovdiv), Anna Messing (another of our fantastic hosts), Julie Donovan (George Washington University), and Rayna Rosenova (Sofia University).