There were Polish, Italian, Spanish and American hits that nearly everyone knows, but the Tre Voci tenors’ interpretations sent concert audiences into raptures. During performances organized for the 50th anniversary of the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union, audiences also learned the history of the financial institution, and its longest-standing members received special honors.
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“There has never been a concert like this in Greenpoint,” “it was incredibly beautiful,” “I would gladly see them perform again”… those are just a few of the opinions overheard in the crowd of delighted fans about the Tre Voci performance. The first in a series of several anniversary concerts took place at the Polish National Home “Warsaw” in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Friday evening, Oct. 16. About 1,000 people attended, all members of the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union, which treated Polonia to this special musical event to mark its golden jubilee. The young Polish tenors presented a highly varied repertoire that included hits known from opera stages, such as “Belle” from the musical “Notre-Dame de Paris,” as well as pop and film songs such as “Goldeneye” and “(Everything I Do), I Do It for You.” For the Polish American audience there were also gems from the repertoire of Polish and American stars, such as Zbigniew Wodecki’s hit “Lubię wracać tam, gdzie byłem,” Piotr Szczepanik’s “Kochać,” Czesław Niemen’s “Wspomnienie,” and “New York, New York” and “My Way,” made famous by Frank Sinatra. There were many more songs that brought back memories of years past, and all were performed in a pop-opera style that gave them added depth and breathed new life into them. It turns out that so-called classical crossover, performed by “tenors of a new generation,” as the Tre Voci vocalists describe themselves, struck a chord with the Polish American audience. The crowd had a wonderful time, going wild during the dynamic numbers and feeling every moment of the nostalgic songs. Their reaction added energy and fired up the performers onstage even more, creating an incredible rapport between them and the audience. It also turned out that all three tenors are excellent emcees who knew just how to use words to put the audience in the mood for the hits they were about to sing. They entertained with dancing, too, and their “cat-like moves” drove the crowd, especially the women, wild. All of this means Tre Voci’s New York debut will surely stay in the memory of both the artists and the audience for a long time. “There was no coquetry in our words when we said from the stage that the audience was wonderful, because that is truly how we felt. From the very first songs, the audience was just the way we love it: wild, crazy, with huge applause. So we thank them very much for that,” one of the three tenors, Voytek Soko Sokolnicki, told Nowy Dziennik. “The emotions are with us all the time. Adrenaline, being moved and gratitude that we can sing here is what we are feeling right now,” added Miłosz Gałaj. “We prepared for this tour for a long time, and the 50th anniversary of the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union inspired us to show such an extensive and rich repertoire. What’s more, from what we heard and felt from the audience, the emotions were incredible on both sides, ours and the audience’s, because we are very moved when we can sing for Polonia. We love coming to the United States, and since this was our first time performing in New York, we can safely say that this debut in front of such a wonderful audience is a dream come true,” said the third tenor, Mikołaj Adamczak.
The originator of the concerts for the PSFCU’s 50th anniversary celebration, the credit union’s president and CEO Bogdan Chmielewski, made no secret of his joy at the audience’s reaction and the artists’ delight. “I’m glad our members are happy, because this first of six Tre Voci concerts, like the others, is organized with them in mind. It is our way of thanking them for their loyalty, for being with us, and for supporting the Polish & Slavic Credit Union, so that now we can all enjoy our credit union’s success together,” the PSFCU chief said. During the concert, the audience in the hall also had a chance to learn about the founding and operations of the Polish American financial institution through short films shown on the subject.
“That was the intention of this concert: to take our members on a musical journey, but also to include elements reminding us how we, as Poles, have scaled all these peaks. Those short films were a reminiscence of the road the Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union has traveled over 50 years, where it started, what the most important moments in our work were, and what we truly represent today. And there is truly much to be proud of,” said Bogdan Chmielewski.
In addition, the PSFCU’s most loyal and longest-standing members received special diplomas and certificates. Among them was Andrzej Piekut. “I opened my account in January 1981. Times were a little different then, and you earned big money when converted into zlotys. But because I didn’t yet speak English at that time, it was very nice to come and deposit my money at a bank where they spoke Polish,” said one of the PSFCU’s longest-standing members, who still has a four-digit account number, while today’s are already six digits. “So I’ve been a credit union member for 46 years. During that time, the PSFCU’s assets grew from 100,000 to 3 billion. When I opened my account at the bank, my pants size was 31, and today I wear a 36. So you can see that both the credit union and I have gone way up,” Andrzej Piekut added humorously at the end of the conversation.
Similar ceremonies honoring the PSFCU’s longest-standing members were held at the other Tre Voci concerts, which took place the next day in Lodi, NJ, and on Sunday, Oct. 18, in Queens, New York. The next two will take place this coming weekend at the Copernicus Center in Chicago, where the new-generation tenors made their debut 10 years ago.
Text and photos: Wojtek Maślanka
Source: Nowy Dziennik