Marek Żebrowski: My German adventure

My adventures in Germany actually began in Boston, Massachusetts, at some point in the early 1980s. A recent graduate of the New England Conservatory, after completing my studies I continued to reside on the East Coast. Besides performing in the area, I was teaching at M.I.T. and University of Massachusetts. 

One chilly Boston night, I went to hear a concert by my friend, Krystian Zimerman and, after talking to him briefly backstage, a young and smiling fellow Pole came up and introduced himself to me. His name was Waldemar Radacz. He heard me chatting with Krystian and mentioned that he lived in Germany, was a pastor in Kassel, and occasionally organized concerts there. I think that at that point I suggested we meet before he left Boston and Waldemar readily agreed to this idea. He also mentioned that he brought some artwork by one of his German friends, Bernd Mlodoch, and I eventually bought a few of Bernd’s small hand-colored prints from Waldemar.

As time went on, it turned out that this chance encounter led to meetings with all kinds of fascinating individuals in Germany, who eventually became close friends of mine. After some correspondence – via air mail as email wasn’t yet in use – one hot June a year or two later I ended up in Germany, where Waldemar arranged a few solo recitals for me. He lived in Kassel, and almost instantly I was introduced to Frau Korte, Waldemar’s neighbor in the apartment building. She turned out to be a very helpful middle-aged lady who loved to bring fresh strawberries and other sweet treats to her neighbor and his new Polish friend. 

My recitals in Kassel and especially in Marburg were very well attended and press reviews were quite favorable. Also after my Marburg concert, I finally had the opportunity to meet Bernd Mlodoch and let him know that his artwork was already hanging on the walls of my Boston apartment. Visibly delighted with this news, Bernd invited me to his studio on Marburg’s tree-lined Uferstrasse, where I had a chance to admire his extensive portfolio of artwork and his printing press that fully occupied one of the four crowded rooms of his apartment. 

Another longtime friend I made after my Marburg concert was Joachim Kramer, a well-known piano teacher in the area, who invited me to visit him in Sindersfeld, a tiny and picturesque village about 20 km from Marburg. Joachim lived in a large house at the edge of the village and from each of his windows and his outdoor terrace a magnificent view of rolling countryside with wooded hills and fields of mustard green extended as far as the eye could see.

Joachim eventually offered to not only help with arranging some concerts for me but also very generously offered lodging in his house, free of charge, whenever I needed it. Since he had a concert grand piano in his living room and told me I could use it anytime he was away to teach his students, I couldn’t refuse his extraordinary hospitality. In return, I often cooked supper to greet Joachim at the end of the day when he returned from teaching; we’d sit in his dining room (or on the terrace) and watch long summer sunsets punctuated only by the singing of birds. Before nightfall, we’d also take long walks in the surrounding fields with Joachim’s little dog, Susie, a dachshund mix, who loved these excursions and always recognized the word “Spazieren” by madly spinning with joy and bolting out like a bullet as soon as the house door was opened. Still another friend I made at that time was Susanne, Waldemar’s sweet and caring partner, who through her connections arranged for my recitals at the hilltop castle in the nearby resort town of Bad Wildungen.