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Concert: Simon Gronowski and Kosta Jakić at Kazerne Dossin - 24.06.2023

June, 18 2023

We have enormous honour to announce the concert in the frame of film shooting with Simon Gronowski (92) and Kosta Jakic (26) -camera Ivan Put- that PhD In One Night, Orangeries de Bierbais, Laboratory for Radical Peace in collaboration with Fondation La Nacelle, prepare. 

The evening opens with a vibrant jazz session by Simon Gronowski. Kosta Jakić performs the fragment of the ‘Piece for the Speaking Pianist: De Profundis’ by Frederic Rzewski, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s letter, written during his imprisonment. Kosta Jakić also plays Chopin’s ‘Mazurkas’ and ‘Balade’ recalling memories of Ita Gronowski, Simon’s sister who was murdered in Auschwitz. Finally, both pianists play quatre-mains.

In 1943, Simon Gronowski was eleven years old when he was arrested and was imprisoned for one month in the Dossin barracks. He managed to escape the 20th convoy by jumping off the train. Chana Kaplan, his mother, and Ita Gronowski, his sister, did not survive the Holocaust. Today, Simon Gronowski is a doctor of law and a renowned jazz pianist.

Kosta Jakić is a Belgian pianist of Yugoslav origin and conductor. Since 2014, Kosta Jakić has been performing solo recitals across Europe. In September 2021, he graduated cum laude from the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. He is currently studying medicine at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He is vice president of the ‘Belgian Doctor Symphony Orchestra’ and researches the role of music in the conditions of detention camps and prisons, working actively to bring the music into the prisons with the organization ‘Looking at the stars’.

The Orangeries de Bierbais would like to extend a special and warm thank you to Jean-Cédric van der Belen, benefactor of the Orangeries, for his unfailing support throughout this project.

Read the announcement on kazernedossin.eu

Official press relase can be obtained as pdf here.