By Kirstin Dougan
The Jerzy Bojanowski Collection in the Wisconsin Music Archives (WMA) has been inventoried and a new web site describing the collection and Bojanowski's life has recently been established at www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Music/wma/jbhome.htm.
I began this effort as a collection assessment project for the MUS/LIS 619 Music Bibliography class, but it quickly grew into a more detailed undertaking that spanned over two years. The collection contains roughly 100 concert programs from 1925–1960s, approximately 450 pieces of correspondence from 1932–c.1952, numerous newspaper clippings, several photographs and one music manuscript. Each item was assessed in an attempt to piece together as complete a picture as possible of the career of Bojanowski, who was a well-known conductor in his day. The fact that Bojanowski often made copies of his outgoing correspondence aided this process. In addition, I searched the internet for other references to Bojanowksi or any materials relating to him. While in Washington, D.C., I also visited the Library of Congress's Performing Arts Reading Room in order to gather information and view several of his manuscripts.
Jerzy Bojanowski (1893–1983) was a Polish conductor who began his American career in Chicago in 1932 and relocated to Milwaukee in the early 1940s. He died in Milwaukee in 1983. For several years Bojanowski conducted the Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, which was part of the WPA's Federal Music Project. He wished to make the group a permanent one, but his efforts never succeeded. Throughout his career Bojanowski worked with a wide range of guest soloists including such notable musicians as Morton Gould, Paul Robeson, Tito Schipa, Eleanor Steber, and Helen Traubel. A list of the soloists culled from the programs in the collection can be found on the web site.
While better known as a conductor, Bojanowski's efforts as a composer did not go unnoticed. The Library of Congress holds a handful of his compositions, and in addition, several of his pieces were also registered for copyright. The web site includes a list of compositions compiled from sources in the collection and from the Library of Congress.
The WMA web site on Jerzy Bojanowski represents the most complete information available to the public about him. However, there are still many gaps in the story. If you know of any materials related to Bojanowski not listed on the web site, please contact the Mills Music Library.