Valentine’s Day in “Krakus”
On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, at the Krakus Senior Club hitm at the Polish Slavic Center in Greenpoint, beautifully dressed in red blouses or dresses, the Krakus Choir gives an interesting musical concert, literally. The choir was conducted by Katarzyna Drucker and performed nine songs; The heart knocks in the rhythm of cha-cha, the mouth is silent and the soul sings, You took my heart, A bee sat on the apple tree, My dear, I love you, And on and on and Valentine’s Day. Two songs were a surprise: You’ll go above – sung by Kasia Drucker – solo with the song A little bit of happiness in love, sung solo by Anna Kucay with the choir.
In the encore, at the president’s request, on the last words of “And hear: I love you”, Kasia Drucker sang second place in a duet with Anna Kucay. Between songs, the following poems were recited: “Uncertainty”; A. Mickiewicz was recited by three seniors: Tadeusz Nowak, Krzysztof Zieliński and Małgorzata Posłuszna, “Valentine’s Day Wishes” – Halina Jaworska, “Love” – Zofia Wiszniewska and the poem “Two Words” by J. I. Kraszewski was recited by Marianna Prusaczyk . Ola Watras accompanied us on the piano, introductory words and the presenter Waldemar Ostrowski.
In the second part of the concert, jazz guitarist Hans Luchs will perform, playing well-known standards by Burt Bacharach. Thad Jones or Antonio Carlos Jobim. Based in New York, Hans turns on stages across the country from small jazz clubs to festivals, as well as internationally in Europe, Canada and Latin America. Hans has settled and toured with wireless music processors including eight-time Grammy winner Pepe Aguilar, Motown legend Martha Reeves and numerous jazz musicians in Chicago, New York and beyond. As a recording artist, Hans has recorded in various formats as a sideman and leader. Hans is also an active music educator.
Currently he teaches guitar and ukulele at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
The audience – seniors – applauded the finds loudly, and then everyone was treated to sweets. There was also a choice of Valentine and Valentine, i.e. the nicest senior citizen.
They were Anna Weber and Wojciech Żebrowski. The entire event was supervised by: Agnieszka Granatowska – Executive Director of CPS, Artur Pastuła – Program Director of the Club, Urszula Galej – Program Coordinator and Agata Forys – Social Worker.
The heart-shaped decoration of the stages and the hall was made and the sound system was supervised by: Krzysztof Zieliński, Tadeusz Nowak and Waldemar Ostrowski.
Text and photos: Zosia Zeleska-Bobrowski