MAJA TROCHIMCZYK


Moonrise Press Books Poetry Contact Bio Details

Chopin Blog Events Event Photos Sunland Seasons Album


Poet

Poetry is a way of life and a shortcut to the sublime... An avid reader of poetry since my Polish childhood, I started writing in English. The flexibility, richness and focus of this language never cease to amaze me!

Since 1995, I have kept a personal poetic journal and gave all sorts of poems to my friends. I like illustrating them with my photographs, taken mostly in my garden and neighborhood of Southern California. In 2006, I decided to share my work and at public readings and in publications. Over 80 poems appeared in such venues as The Clockwise Cat, Magnapoets, Quill and Parchment, Ekphrasis Journal, Epiphany Magazine, Lilly Literary Review, Loch Raven Review, Phantom Seed, poeticdiversity, The Sage Trail, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, and various chapbooks and anthologies by Poets on Site, Emerging Urban Poets, Southland Poets of the Fantastic, and others. Many of my poems are inspired by art and presented at art exhibitions in Southern California, including the Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pacific Asia Museum, and private galleries. My favorite poets include Rainer Maria Rilke, Artur Rimbaud, Czeslaw Milosz, Wislawa Szymborska, e.e. cummings, T.S. Eliot, and Emily Dickinson. I'm listed in Poets & Writers and belong to several poetry groups (Poets on Site, The Spiritual Quartet, and Emerging Urban Poets, among others). See the lists of published poems and readings and events.

For the years 2010-2012, I have been elected the Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, California. See the photo album from the ceremony, and read more about my activities. I publish two blogs dedicated to poetry: Poetry Laurels and Chopin with Cherries. Videos of my poetry readings may be found on the YouTube Channel for Moonrise Press, including video recordings from poetry readings in 2008-2010 (11 videos, see the list with links on my poet-laureate page).

Books of Poetry

    Miriam's Iris, or Angels in the Garden
    Poetry and Photography. Read a sample of poems here.

    A collection of 60 poems organized around appearances of six angels: Amor, Eros, Eloe, Thanatos, Ellenai, and Sophia. The poems are intertwined with interludes of memory, nostalgia, and nature mysticism. The book is illustrated with photos of landscapes and gardens of Southern California. Published in 2008. Distributed by Amazon.com, lulu, etc: Paperback: ISBN 978-0-578-00166-1 Google Books: Miriam Preview. Hardcover with Color Photos (Second Edition, 126 pp.):ISBN 978-0-9819693-2-9 Reviewed by G. Murray Thomas, at poetix.net (February 2010).


    Rose Always - A Court Love Story
    Poetry and Photography. Read a sample of 12 poems here.

    Surprisingly sweet and gentle, this "novella in verse" is a love story of a crime victim and a troubled man, an ex-offender on a path to redemption. The story is told through 85 brief, lyrical poems and 24 narrative fragments, featuring stylized excerpts of court records and an array of allusions and quotations. Inspired by the Songs of Songs and centuries of love poems, from Sappho to Milosz. Published in 2008, revised in 2011. Distributed by lulu.com: Revised paperback edition,152 pp. ISBN 978-0-9819693-4-3 Google Books: Rose Always Illustrated Preview.


    Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse
    An anothology of poetry edited by Maja Trochimczyk.

    This volume celebrates the 200th birth anniversary of a Polish pianist-composer, Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) in a selection of 123 poems by 92 contemporary poets, mostly based in America. The hightlights include the first English translation of Norwid's Fortepian Szopena by Leonard Kress, and classic poems by Emma Lazarus, Amy Lowell and T.S. Eliot. Published in February 2010. ISBN 978-0-9819693-0-5. Available in Paperback Edition Read more about this anthology, including the list of poets. Review by John Z. Guzlowski in The Cosmopolitan Review 2 no. 1 (Spring 2010).

Scholar

As an author of four books and over 60 scholarly articles and chapters published in peer-reviewed journals and books, I'm well established in the music history world, with two main specializations: Polish music of the 19th and 20th centuries, and 20th-century contemporary music (Andriessen, Brant, Lutoslawski, and others). Two of my three graduate degrees are in music history: Ph.D. from McGill University (1994) and M.A. from the University of Warsaw (1986). I also studied sound engineering (M.A. 1987) and used this background in my musical research. A former director of USC Polish Music Center, I am a member of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, American Musicological Society, Polish American Historical Association, and other professional organizations.

As an active member of Polish American community, I'm currently serving as Board Member and Officer (PAHA Newsletter Editor) of the Polish American Historical Association as as President of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club in Los Angeles. For the Club, I publish a blog about its activities: Modjeska Club.

A full list of publications and conference presentations may be found in my detailed biography. My music history books, published and in progress, are as follows:


Krakowiak
  • Polish Dance in Southern California. East European Monographs Series, Columbia University Press, 2007. A study of folk dance groups created by émigré amateurs and the influence of folk-song-and-dance ensembles from Poland on the Polish dance movement in America. Based on a 1999 research project of the Southern California Studies Center at USC. Review (Nov 2008): Journal of Folklore Research.


  • A Romantic Century in Polish Music. Collection of essays by Magdalena Dziadek, Martina Homma, Krzysztof Rottermund, Krzysztof Szatrawski, Maria Zduniak, and the editor. Essays about Lipinski in Wroclaw, Lipinski's violins, Wieniawski's virtuosity, the reception of Wagner, women composers, and other issues. Los Angeles: Moonrise Press, December 2009. See the description with the table of contents. ISBN 978-0-9819693-3-6 (paperback).

The Music of Louis Andriessen
  • The Music of Louis Andriessen. Studies and interviews with the composer by Trochimczyk, additional texts by Dutch contributors: Elmer Schonberger, Frits van der Waa, and Reinbert de Leeuw. New York: Routledge, 2002, 317 pp. With music examples, diagrams, illustrations, list of works, discography, bibliography, and index. See: Routledge (Taylor & Francis), Amazon.com.
After Chopin, by Maja Trochimczyk
  • After Chopin: Studies in Polish Music. Collection of essays about Szymanowski, Lutoslawski, Ingarden; and source readings by Polish composers discussing Chopin. Editor, translator, and author of 3 entries (introduction, essays on Ingarden, and national anthems). Los Angeles: Polish Music Center at USC, 2000, 333 pp. Polish Music History Series, vol. 6.

  • Henry Brant On His Music: Interviews. Collection of conversations with the composer, 1992-2004. With essays about his music; list of works, calendarium of life, index, and a CD recording. Moonrise Press, forthcoming in 2012.
  • Hanna Kulenty's Musical Kitchen. Collection of interviews with the composer; essays about her music, her M.A. thesis in English translation; with a list of works, discography, recipes and index. Moonrise Press, forthcoming in 2009.

  • Polish Music Journal . Peer-reviewed research journal (1998-2003). Editor. www.usc.edu/go/polish_music/PMJ. Vol. 1/1 (1998, "Wilk Prizes"); vol. 1/2 (1998, "Early music"); vol. 2/1-2 (1999, "The Chopin Year - I"); vol. 3/1 (2000, "The Chopin Year - II); vol. 3/2 (2000, "Chopin and Lutoslawski"); vol. 4/1 (2001, "Paderewski"), vol. 4/2 (2001, "Paderewski"); vol. 5/1 (2002, "Bacewicz"); vol. 5/2 (2002, "Zygmunt Stojowski"); vol. 6/1 (2003, "Polish-Jewish Music"); vol. 6/2 (2003, "Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki").

Swiat Xenakisa
  • Swiat Xenakisa [Xenakis's World]. Special issue of the Polish Musicological Quarterly, Muzyka 43, no. 4 (1998), 166 pp. Editor (Maria Anna Harley). Articles by Peter Hoffmann, James Harley, Maria Anna Harley, Mihu Iliescu, Benoit Gibson.

Translator

I have worked as a translator in Poland for the International Society of Contemporary Music - Polish Section, the Warsaw Autum Festival, and other organizations. I translated from Polish to English both in live events (conferences, seminars, lectures, public speeches), and for publication (program books, essays, biographical entries, etc.). After moving to Canada and the U.S., I started to translate poetry into Polish, and continued working on English translations, for books and journals on Polish music, University of Southern California, the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, music festivals, etc. I'm currently working on a bi-lingual poetry edition for Moonrise Press.


Photographer

With a simple digital camera I take pictures of what I like to see in my neighborhood in California. Examples of my photography of landscapes, and plants of Southern California are on the margin of this page. Online journal, PoeticDiversity made me the Artist in Residence in their August 2009 issue. Photographs of roses appeared in The Houston Literary Review, June 2009 visual arts issue.

I use my photos as illustrations in my poetry books, Rose Always and Miriam's Iris, published by Moonrise Press, 2008. Nature photography also livens up my online chapbooks, Poems and Stories, Glorias and Assorted Praises, and Poems for my Friend. My news photography of charity and music events appeared in various papers and newsletters in the U.S. and Poland.

I have curated two exhibitions, Polish Music Manuscripts (October 2000) and Paderewski: A Portrait of a Musician (2002-2003) at USC Thornton School of Music, both with photographs from my collection and provided photographs for USC Polish Music Center's website.

Sunland Seasons - Online Gallery of 30 Photographs

Spring on the Capitol - Picasa Album, April 2010

Rose and Roses - 48 Photos, October 2010

Nonprofit Consultant

With over 14 years of consulting experience, I am a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, working as an advancement professional and consultant for a range of non-profit agencies, educational institutions, and other charitable organizations. As a non-profit writer, editor, and researcher, I have specialized in:
  • Major gift fundraising, especially for campaigns and special projects,

  • Grant proposals to government agencies, private and corporate foundations,

  • Design of employment preparation services, and drug treatment programs,

  • Annual reports, including concept, design and content (photos and stories),

  • Newsletters in print and electronic formats, with agency "branding" elements,

  • Special events programs, such as gala/golf program books, as well as concert, symposium and exhibition programs,

  • Direct mail letters, brochures, and postcards (concept, content, and design),

  • Promotional and communications material, such as website content, press releases, press kits, etc.

I have worked on capital projects and the planning/implementation of donation campaigns. If you would like to work with me on a project, please contact me via e-mail, or at the address below.





affiliate_link





(c) Copyright 2007-2011 by Maja Trochimczyk.
P.O. Box 4288, Sunland, California 91041-4288.

Home | Biography | Moonrise Press Home | Glorias & Assorted Praises
Rose Always | Chopin with Cherries | Poems and Stories | Miriam's Iris