Back in NC

Team Chopin arrived back in NC late yesterday afternoon – losing no people or equipment on the way!  It was an amazing trip which will take each of us a while to process.

I really had no intention of finishing up our blog AFTER  the trip.  But, it was surprisingly hard to keep up with – we worked long, long days, and had iffy internet access along the way.  Nonetheless, here’s the rest of it.

This past Tuesday, June 14th, we had a lifetime experience of visiting George Sand’s country home Nohant.  We all piled into a 15-person bus with equipment, two drivers, and a wonderful translator named Donna, and arrived at Nohant at about 1:00.  There is an incredible feeling of warmth and charm at George Sand’s home, and the surrounding countryside resembles Poland in many ways.  Although we traveled under mostly cloudy skies on our 3-hour trip to the Berry region, we received passing sunny moments while down there.  So, we were able to do some exterior shooting before getting our tour and interview inside with Monsier Michel Delaume.

We were given a very personal tour of the house, with special attention to the kitchen, dining room, and salon where Chopin and Sand gathered with their famous friends during the 7 summers he spent time there.  I was thrilled to be allowed to play the small Pleyel  spinet in the room, and we were amazed to be allowed to touch and film  Chopin’s personal hot chocolate pot in the kitchen!  Most interesting was the interview  with Monsier Delaume where he spoke passionately about  George Sand’s role in providing an environment that lovingly encouraged both Chopin’s health and compositional process (without any prompting from me)!

On our last day, Wednesday the 15th,  we finished up shots needed in Paris, relaxed just a bit, and had a wonderful wrap party at a restaurant right on the Seine.

There is a lot of work now to be done to weave all of these beautiful experiences captured on film into our film, REMEMBERING FREDERIC. It promises to be a unique look at an incredible composer and his music, and we are a lucky bunch of people to have been privileged to travel on this journey.  We hope to post all of our still photos on line in one central place  soon, and we will let you know where and when that happens.

Thanks for following our adventure!

Pam and Team Chopin

Catching up…

I know that we have fallen off the blog again! But, I think we last left off with Wendell blogging on Friday morning when I had an extremely interesting appointment with Marek Ziolkowski, the Deputy Speaker of the Polish Senate (set up by Jarek).  We had to go through all kinds of security procedures to be allowed in, but then proceeded to be welcomed with true Polish style.  The Deputy Speaker, a sociologist before becoming a politician, has a unique perspective on the place of Chopin in the lives of the citizens of Poland AND the rest of the world.

We have been moving so fast that it is hard to capture all the details.  In Poland we all felt extremely welcomed with a feeling of being “home” – not only at Jarek’s B and B but out on the street.  Friday afternoon my friend Ola Archanowicz gave us a great walking tour of all of Chopin’s main “sites” in the main street leading to the Old Town (including the church where Chopin’s heart resides).  Although it was raining and a little gloomy we got a fine sense of Chopin’s early life.  WE wound up that very long day at a great restaurant in the Old Town where most of our crew tried and loved bear stew!  Saturday morning Jarek had set up another very interesting interview for us with the Chancellor of Frederic Chopin University, Marek Bykowski.  As a musician, he had another really interesting perspective on Chopin and welcomed us to his beautiful campus.  The day proceeded with interviews with Jarek himself, expounding on the important subject of trying to make Chopin as available to the people who live in and visit Warsaw.  These -initiatives for doing so in the future are creative, clever and courageous.  We also captured Pawel Besser (the administrative foundation of Boutique B and B) on tape!  Before we wrapped up for the day, I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend, the great Polish pianist Joanna Maklakiewicz, who gave us her unique thoughts and feelings as a pianist on both understanding and performing Chopin’s music.

On our last night in Warsaw we all went out to a wonderful traditional Polish restaurant, with great food, much laughter, and a wonderful pianist playing old time and Polish folk music.  The people at a nearby table (a very happy birthday party celebration) regaled us with their enthusiastic sing-along with the music –which inspired and encouraged our group to join in spontaneous dancing (this part was not filmed!).

So, yesterday, Sunday, June 12 – our group left Poland with very mixed feelings.  There was elation at having experienced such wonderful things, but a bit of sadness of leaving this wonderful place.  We returned to Paris last night and, so far, all of our bags and equipment have made every flight in tact.

Today was an outdoor shooting day featuring the beautiful statue of Chopin in Parc Monceau and the very special Square d’Orleans apartments where Chopin and George Sand basically lived together (while she resided in #5, and he held #9).  We are on the eve of heading to the “region de George Sand” – the Berry region 3 hours south of here.  We are set with a large bus tomorrow to drive all of us, our equipment, and an interpreter to the magical Maison de George Sand museum.  I think tomorrow will be a highlight for our team and we are all excited.

More to follow,

Team Chopin

 

Friday, 6/10, Warsaw

(Wendell here, Pam is busy going over notes for this afternoon’s walking tour) Well, sorry we didn’t blog yesterday.  We had a long and very productive day.  To our surprise, yesterday’s transportation was provided, gratis, by the city of Warsaw.  The ten of us and our translator (Ola, a delightful woman who Pam met during her Chopin piano workshop in 2009) traveled by air conditioned, 40 passenger bus.  We visited Zelazowa Wola, Chopin’s birthplace, where we did an indoor interview with one of the staff and outdoor interviews with our translator and another member of the staff.  We also visited the nearby brick church where Chopin’s parents were married, he was baptised, and one of his sisters was married.   This church was built partially for protection in times of conflict, and so is completely made of brick, surrounded by a high, thick, brick wall.  Both the wall and the church’s three towers have slit-like windows through which weapons could be fired for defense.  The church was severely damaged during world war I, and was rebuilt in the 1930′s.  Surprisingly, it suffered little damage during WW II.   The interior was renovated in 2007 and 2008 in preparation for Chopin’s 200th birthday.  Yesterday evening there was a special event at the B&B where we had live jazz, good wine and food, and interviews with several important Warsaw notables.

This morning Pam and a small crew (one camera and sound, along with Daniel, the director and Laura, writer/producer) interviewed an important official in the Polish Senate, after which they filmed the famous Chopin memorial in the big park nearby.  I guess you all can tell that, with my lack of familiarity with the polish language, the names of people and places just do not stay in my brain.  If Pam were here, she could give you better information, and when she gets a chance, she will fill in the gaps for us.

When we arrived in Warsaw, it was VERY HOT!!  Now, it has cooled off considerably, which is nice since we have work to do, but it is also threatening rain, which of course would make things considerably more difficult.  Hopefully it will only continue to threaten. Yesterday we were very lucky, as it threatened all day, but did not actually rain until after we were done with all of our outdoor work. Hopefully our luck will hold.

We will try to keep you all informed of our progress as we continue to move along.

Wendell and “Team Chopin”

Team Chopin arrives in Warsaw!

All 10 of us took the Polish airlines LOT flight to Warsaw, arriving today at 2:20. After retrieving all of our bags and equipment we found our transportation to Boutique B and B in the Smolna neighborhood. Our group was overwhelmed by the warm welcome of our good friend Jarek Cholodecki, B and B owner, Chopin champion in Warsaw, and entrepreneur extraordinare! He had some beautiful cold white wine waiting for us (and it is HOT here – the high 80s are a big change from chilly, rainy Paris of yesterday), along with some terrific Polish food. Jarek caught us up on new ideas he’s working on for Chopin promotion in Warsaw as well as some of his big plans for us tomorrow. It was also wonderful to reconnect with my friend Joanna Maklakiewicz, a wonderful pianist we will be interviewing for the film.

So, tomorrow is a very exciting day for us – we will go to Zelazowa Wola (Chopin’s birthplace home and museum) as well as the church nearby where  Chopin was baptized and his parents were married.  I am very anxious to revisit what I remember as a very beautiful place and surrounding countryside.  It will be a long day of what no doubt will give us some amazing footage for the documentary.

It is great to be in Poland, Chopin’s native country.  I feel connected to the people here, and to Chopin, and to my grandfather who started out his life nearby.  I think all of us feel the warmth and welcome  here.  We all really agree that one of the things that will engage our audience and bring Chopin to life as a real person, will be these scenes from his “places” – where he grew up and what was important to him here.  We couldn’t have a better place to start or more friendly and  willing friends and helpers here.  Tomorrow night, we will also meet some of the important people in the “Chopin-for-all” movement here in Warsaw.  So, we will keep you posted…..and let you know how the pierogi are tomorrow!

A special thanks again to Jarek for welcoming us – we are so glad to be here!

Pam and Team Chopin

We had an amazing day in Paris today…

Dear Friends,

Yes, I know I didn’t blog yesterday!  But, we had a little time of it getting here – they didn’t want to let one of us 10 on the usairways flight, although we had all of our stuff in order.  But, we managed to get everyone one, but due to lots of things and thunderstorms in Charlotte, we left about 3 hours late (that has never happened before leaving for Europe before for us) and we arrived in Paris about 10:30 yesterday.  But, we hit the ground running and were able to crash at the American Church, thanks to our good friend Fred Gramman (this is the church where I have played before).  Some of us crashed and some did some siteseeing – we all agree – no matter how cliche the Eiffel Tower might sound – it is always completely stunninng to see it again!  But, we all made it and were anticipating a great day today – Monday.

Nothing could have prepared us for what was in store for us today.  We got to the Church of the Madeleine, site of Chopin’s funeral,  and were greeted by a wonderful guide – and he and I worked out the interview in French/English (our translator couldn’t come)!  He was wonderful, and gave us great insight into this beautiful church.  Everyone worked hard and our cameraman and I were treated to a special impromptu behind the scenes tour – going up steep spiral stairs for a “backstage” tour which resulted in amazing visuals from 2 and 3 flights up looking down on the cathedral floor —simply amazing.  We then headed – in the pouring rain with all of the equipment over to Pere Lachaise cemetary (site of Chopin’s burial – at least his body ) and had great filming of this last resting place of Chopin.  Even though it was pouring rain (good ambience) there were still many tourists there to see his grave in this city of 300,000 dead.  We got what we needed and it was really wonderful.  The day was very atmospheric and we all feel satisfied that we have captured the “end of Chopin’s story” on the first day.  I have never hit the ground running with so little jetlag before – and our crew seems really energized, excited and happy to be here.  Tomorrow early in the morning we head to Poland – back to Paris on Sunday, the 12th.  I need to go now as wifi is spotty here.  But, know that we are thinking of you all and thanking you for helping make this adventure possible.  You will not be sorry!

Best from,

TEAM CHOPIN

Today is the day…

We are all nearly ready to head to the Charlotte airport for our flight out this afternoon (hoping that everybody remembers their passports!).  So much has happened to get us all to this place –many, many behind the scenes people helping and encouraging us to make this dream a reality…  thank you all.

We should be landing at Charles de  Gaulle around 7 a.m. Monday morning, and aside from the usual jetlag, our biggest concern is schlepping the equipment around.   You should see the ARRI light kit – 72 pounds…good thing we have 3 strong, young 20-something guys along with us!  We are staying at a hostel which will be closed to us until 4:00 in the afternoon, but the American Church in Paris has graciously agreed to let us crash in their “youth” room in the basement.  With high hopes it is time to go begin the adventure…

 

GETTING READY TO LEAVE SUNDAY

Welcome to the REMEMBERING FREDERIC Trip Blog.  It is hard to believe that we are finally within 2 days of leaving for our big trip to France and Poland.  If you are reading this post, it is likely that you have contributed in some or all of these ways — financially, emotionally, creatively –and we are so glad that you are on board with us.

We leave on Sunday, June 5 and hope to blog every day we’re away until our return on the 16th to let you join us on our big adventure.

So….stay tuned…..xo Pam and “L’equipe Chopin” (the Chopin Team)!