An Evening of Chopin with Brian Ganz & Friends Trivia

1. Which musician from tonight’s program is doing a multi-year Chopin performance project, performing all of Chopin’s works?
   1. Cellist Carter Brey
   2. Pianist Brian Ganz
   3. Violinist Laura Colgate

***Brian Ganz is in year 12 (13 if you count the pandemic virtual performance) and a few years away from performing all of Chopin’s works for piano.

2. Where does cellist Carter Brey perform as Principal Cellist?
   1. National Philharmonic
   2. New York Philharmonic
   3. Baltimore Symphony

2. What is the name of NatPhil Concertmaster Laura Colgate’s nonprofit organization that advocates for women and all gender marginalized composers.
   1. Women in Music
   2. Boulanger Initiative
   3. She is the Music

***Boulanger Initiative is a nonprofit that works to foster inclusivity and representation by promoting music composed by women through performance, education, research, consulting, and commissions.

4. Which piece on the program is one of Chopin’s first published compositions?

• Introduction and Polonaise brillante
• Piano Trio
• Grand Duo concertante
• Cello Sonata

*** The Polonaise was written between 20 and 28 October 1829 during a visit to the estate of Antoni Radziwit in Antonin. In a letter to Chopin’s friend Tytus Wojciechowski, Chopin indicated that he wanted Princess Wanda, the daughter of Prince Antoni, to practice it.

5. Which piece on the program is the only work of Chopin that features the violin, aside from his orchestral works?

• Piano Trio
• Introduction and Polonaise brillante
• Grand Duo concertante
• Cello Sonata

*** In a letter to his friend Tytus Wojciechowski dated 31 August 1830, Chopin speculates whether he should have written the violin line for viola, believing that the viola’s timbre would “accord better with the cello”.

6. Which piece on the program was based on themes from an opera?

• Piano Trio
• Introduction and Polonaise brillante
• Grand Duo concertante
• Cello Sonata

*** Chopin had initially been contracted by his publishers to write a work for piano based on Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le diable.

7. Which composer wrote a raving review of Chopin’s Grand Duo concertante?

• Robert Schumann
• Beethoven
• Clara Schumann
• Frantz Liszt

8. Which piece on the program is one of only nine works of Chopin published during his lifetime that were written for instruments other than piano?

• Piano Trio
• Introduction and Polonaise brillante
• Grand Duo concertante
• Cello Sonata

*** Chopin composed four sonatas, the other three being piano sonatas. The cello sonata was the last of Chopin’s works to be published in his lifetime.

9. Which piece on the program was written in only 8 days?

• Piano Trio
• Introduction and Polonaise brillante
• Grand Duo concertante
• Cello Sonata

*** The Polonaise was written between 20 and 28 October 1829 during a visit to the estate of Antoni Radziwit in Antonin.

10. Where is Chopin from, and where did he live before he died?

• Warsaw, Poland & Paris, France
• London, UK & Berlin, Germany
• Warsaw, Poland & Berlin Germany
• Paris, France & New York USA

11. How many works of Chopin have survived and are accessible today?

• Over 230 works, mostly for piano
• Over 3000 works
• Under 50 works
• 500 works

12. How old was Chopin when he passed away?

• 39
• 47
• 65
• 90

*** Chopin died in Paris, after a long battle with tuberculosis.