Maja Trochimczyk

Frédéric Chopin: A Research and Information Guide is an annotated bibliography concerning both the nature of primary sources related to the composer and the scope and significance of the secondary sources which deal with him, his compositions, and his influence as a composer. The second edition includes research published since the publication of the first edition and provides electronic resources.

The genesis of this poetry collection includes years of travelling and an internal journey leading to a serene California garden. The map of the stages on the journey is created by the appearances of six angels: Amor, the angel of romance, Eros, the angel of desire, Eloe, the angel of sorrow, Thanatos, the angel of death, Ellenai, the angel of consolation, and Sophia, the angel of timeless wisdom. Eros and Thanatos are Greek twins, Amor is their baby cousin. Eloe died of sorrow and Ellenai carried her on his wings in Juliusz Slowacki's romantic drama, Anhelli. Sophia needs no introductions, since she is the wise Queen, the best friend of Rumi and all Christian mystics. Maja Trochimczyk is a Polish-American poet, music historian and non-profit director based in Los Angeles.

Paderewski Essays & Poems written and edited by Maja Trochimczyk is a book dedicated to a Polish pianist, composer, statesman and philanthropist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1840-1941) who gain international fame not only as a celebrated virtuoso pianist, but also as an architect of Poland's regained independence (1918, after 123 years of partitions). The richly illustrated volume consists of three parts. For the first part, "Paderewski Poems," Dr. Trochimczyk transcribed 52 poems about Paderewski, penned in English by American, British, Scottish, Irish and Australian poets, mostly in 1890-1940. The majority of these poems are from Paderewski personal correspondence preserved at the Archive of Modern Records in Warsaw Poland. The second part presents four essays about Paderewski by Dr. Trochimczyk. Two of these studies, written in 2001 and 2025 are dedicated to the textual and contextual analysis of the poems, The first describes a variety of poems about Paderewski that viewed him either as a musician or statesman, a Polish patriot. The second, traces the changing image of the pianist, from a virtuoso, through a divine messenger, comparable to a seraph or archangel, to a heroic Polish patriot, and finally to an immortal, spiritual master. The remaining two studies focus on the constructs of Paderewski stage persona and his reception, predominantly by his female audiences. A discussion of the idealized portraits of the pianist as an archangel, worshipped mostly by women, includes references to poetry, art, and philosophy of Aestheticism of the Gilded Age (2010). The fourth essay explores the ramifications of the "Brighton Album" assembled in 1890-1898 (with some items from 1911-14) by one of Paderewski's ardent female fans in England. Miss Madeleine Michell attended over 50 concerts and preserved hitherto not known documents about his career. In the last part of this volume, readers find a detailed calendar of Paderewski's life and career, and lists of his writings, speeches, & music compositions, as well as a bibliography.

"Celebrating Modjeska in California: History of Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club" is a 428-page case study of a Polish-American organization, active since 1971. This volume reveals the interests, activities, accomplishments, and challenges of successive waves of Polish immigrants to California, especially the generation of the Displaced Persons (survivors and veterans of World War II, mostly interwar Polish intelligentsia), and of the Solidarity-era immigrants. The book is dedicated to "all Polish migr s and exiles dispersed throughout the world who remained faithful to the Polish language and culture," especially to all the volunteers of the Modjeska Club, promoting Polish culture in California. Organized into ten chapters, the book starts from a biography of the Club's patron, Polish actress Helena Modjeska (Modrzejewska, 1840-1909); a survey of Polish Americans and their organizations in California; and a biography of the Club's founder, actor-director Leonidas Dudarew-Ossetyński (1910-1989). Six chapters are dedicated to distinct "eras" in the Club's history: the Kingdom of Leonidas (1971-1978), the times of Solidarity immigrants (1978-1989), the Third Republic of Poland (1989-1998), the period of stabilization and status quo (1998-2010), the arrival of new people and ideas (2010-2018), and surviving challenges (2018-2023). The tenth chapter is a summary with conclusions and recommendations. The book includes an index and many illustrations from the archives of: the Modjeska Club, Polish Museum of America in Chicago, Valerie Dudarew-Ossetyńska Hunken - the founder's daughter, American Council of Polish Culture, and other private and public archives. All net revenue is donated to the Modjeska Club. The author, Maja Trochimczyk, Ph. D., a Polish American music historian, poet, photographer and non-profit director, served as President of Modjeska Club in 2010-12 and since 2018.

The Rainy Bread: More Poems from Exile presents 61 poems about forgotten stories of Poles living under the Soviet and German occupation during WWII, especially in the Eastern Borderlands or "Kresy." They were killed, deported, imprisoned, or starved after the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939. Some of these brief portraits capture the trauma, resilience, ordeals, and miraculous survival stories of the author's immediate family. Their experiences of displacement, hunger, cold, and poverty during the war are typical of Polish civilians. These fictionalized memories are coupled with depictions of survival of other Poles deported to Siberia, the Arctic Circle, or Kazakhstan; those left the Soviet Union with the Second Corps of the Polish Army under the command of General Wladyslaw Anders; those who were transported to refugee camps in India or Africa; and ended up in Argentina, Canada, Australia or the U. S. The book is an expanded edition of The Rainy Bread: Poems from Exile (2016) and a companion to Slicing the Bread (2014). Organized into six parts - Destinations, Nowhere, Hunger Years, Resilience, There and Back, What Remains - the updated book follows a trajectory of descent into hell of deportations, imprisonment, hunger, mass murder, and the ascent into resilience and survival. At the end, the dark rain of sorrow changes into the diamond rain of delight, as life triumphs over death, love over fear. Maja Trochimczyk, Ph. D., is a Polish American poet, music historian, photographer, and author of seven books on music, most recently G recki in Context: Essays on Music (2017) and Fr d ric Chopin: A Research and Information Guide (co-edited with William Smialek, 2015). She currently serves as the President of the California State Poetry Society, managing editor of the California Quarterly, and the President of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club in Los Angeles, promoting Polish culture in California. Trochimczyk's nine books of poetry include Rose Always, Miriam's Iris, Slicing the Bread, Into Light, and four anthologies, Chopin with Cherries (2010), Meditations on Divine Names (2012), Grateful Conversations: A Poetry Anthology (2018) and We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology (2020).

This book of love poetry is a tapestry made with threads of impressions, memories, emotions, images, visions, and dreams. This third, illustrated version of a timeless love story is rich in poems (181), photos of roses (96), and expressions of love and compassion. It draws from international traditions of love poetry, ranging from the The Songs of Songs, through Buddhist and Hindu stories, and words of Antoine de Saint Exup ry's Little Prince, Emily Dickinson, Sappho, Rumi, T. S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Czeslaw Milosz. Dante's Il Paradiso was a great inspiration and so was Goethe and a number of jazz standards, and folk ballads.

"Grateful Conversations" is a portrait of a group of female poets from California, who come together each month to hone their craft and share their verse. Known as Westside Women Writers and active as a group since 2008, they include Millicent Borges Accardi, Madeleine S. Butcher, Georgia Jones Davis, Lois P. Jones, Susan Rogers, Kathi Stafford, Sonya Sabanac, Ambika Talwar and Maja Trochimczyk. In the words of the WWW founder, Millicent Borges Accardi, this is a community of women writers working together to support each other with strong attention to craft, to grow as writers and as people in community. The volume includes poems written for seven workshops and self-portraits in poetry of the nine writers. The editors are members of the group, Maja Trochimczyk and Kathi Stafford.

This collection includes 36 poems and 12 ""incantations"" that focus on the intertwined spiritual concepts of Light and Love. The poems, initially written within Catholic mystical tradition of contemplation and adoration of the Divine presence, gradually evolved to encompass a broader scope of spiritual insights, without losing the main focus: reaching out in Love to the One Light, the Source of All. The simple and repetitive meditations and incantations are meant to inspire, uplift, and fill the heart with Light and Love. Maja Trochimczyk, Ph. D., is a Polish American poet, music historian, photographer, and author of six books on music, most recently ""Frederic Chopin: A Research and Information Guide"" (rev. ed., 2015). Trochimczyk's seven books of poetry include ""Rose Always,"" ""Miriam's Iris,"" ""Slicing the Bread,"" ""The Rainy Bread,"" and two anthologies, ""Chopin with Cherries"" and ""Meditations on Divine Names.""

This volume gathers interviews with and studies of the music of Henryk Miko

This is an abridged reprint in gender-neutral language of a 19th century translation of "Ethica Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata" by Benedict de Spinoza (Baruch Spinoza, 1632-1677) first published in 1677. The 1883 translation by William Hale White (1831-1913), was rendered gender-neutral by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk. This second volume of Moonrise Press's Classic Wisdom Book Series, consists of five parts: I. Of God; II. Of The Nature and Origin of the Mind, III. Of The Origin and Nature of the Affects; IV. Of Human Bondage, or of the Strength of the Affects. And V. Of The Power of the Intellect, or Of Human Liberty. Born in a Jewish-Portuguese family in Amsterdam in 1621, at 23, Spinoza was expelled from the Jewish community and is buried in a Christian church in The Hague (he died at 44, in 1677). He was neither Jewish nor Christian in his views, and, from today's perspective may be called one of the Classics of Awakened Wisdom, aware of the intrinsic unity of the Universe with God, the Source of all.

This anthology of contemporary poetry celebrates the 200th birth anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849). The volume presents 123 poems by 92 poets, including: Sharon Chmielarz, T. S. Eliot, Charles Ades Fishman, Linda Nemec Foster, Emily Fragos, John Z. Guzlowski, Lola Haskins, Oriana Ivy, Lois P. Jones, Leonard Kress, Emma Lazarus, Marie Lecrivain, Jeffrey Levine, Amy Lowell, Rick Lupert, Mira N. Mataric, Elisabeth Murawski, Ruth Nolan, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, William Pillin, Russell Salamon, Katrin Talbot, Mark Tardi, Devi Walders, Kath Abela Wilson, and others. The book is illustrated with vintage Chopin postcards and includes one translation - of "Chopin's Piano" by Norwid. The editor, Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, is a Polish-American poet, music historian, photographer, and translator. She published four books on music, two books of poetry, and hundreds of articles and poems.

This volume brings together a series of essays on some of the less known aspects of music culture in Poland in the 19th century. Eight studies are presented chronologically, including such topics as: careers of women composers, Karol Lipinski's concert tours and violins, Henryk Wieniawski, Polish reception of Wagner, images of composers by Polish music critics, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and Feliks Nowowiejski. Authors, based in Poland, Germany and the U. S. include eminent scholars specializing in Polish music of the 19th and 20th centuries: Magdalena Dziadek, Maria Zduniak, Martina Homma, Krzysztof Rottermund, Krzysztof Szatrawski, and Maja Trochimczyk.