Bassist saying goodbye to WSO
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This article was published 04/03/2014 (4224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
When a Polish music academy told Zdzislaw Prochownik not to come back, it was Poland’s loss and Canada’s gain.
Prochownik is a bassist for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra who will be retiring after this season. He grew up in his home country with a natural ability to read and play music.
“I went to a normal elementary school but they noticed that music came very easily to me,” he said.
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“My father bought a toy accordion when I was six years old,” said Prochownik, a River Heights resident. “Within three days I was able to repeat every song I could hear.”
Prochownik used the accordion to his advantage into his teens, playing at small parties and weddings. It was when he attended a specialized music high school at 14 that he was introduced to the bass, because the school didn’t have any accordions.
“I was tall so they told me to pick the bass,” Prochownik said. “I asked ‘How does it look?’ and they said ‘Don’t worry, you’ll like it.’ So I stopped playing the accordion and focused on the bass.”
After graduating high school, Prochownik recalled many of his peers went into other careers, such as teaching and acting. One even became a priest. He applied to what is now known as The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music to follow his dream of becoming a professional musician.
“I followed the music because it was fairly easy for me,” Prochownik said. “Either you’ve got talent, and enough talent, and on top of it you’ve got to put in a lot of work, because it’s not enough to have just talent.”
Prochownik recalls the music and arts scene thriving in Warsaw in the early ’70s, with the city boasting five different orchestras.
“In those days life was a lot easier for someone like me,” Prochownik said. “I was able to make very good money very quickly as a studio musician and in groups. I could make an excellent living just being a student.”
Everything changed when he was 21 and visited his older sister in Montreal while in his third year at the academy.
“By accident I was introduced to McGill music school and I was offered a small scholarship and a chance to study for a full year,” Prochownik said. “When I asked for a one-year sabbatical from the music academy to be able to study here, I was kicked out of school. Just for asking and not asking for permission from the academy.
“I was very clear that I wanted to come back after one year,” Prochownik added. “But they immediately kicked me out.”
Prochownik stayed in Montreal and attended McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. When he received his Canadian citizenship, he gave up his Polish one the next day.
While at school in Montreal, Prochownik made money roofing, working in factories, and taking other jobs to survive. Before his last exam, Prochownik drove all night from Montreal to Toronto to audition for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. He got the job as a principal bassist but only stayed in the western city for one year because he got another job in
Montreal, closer to his sister.
‘Either you’ve got talent, and enough talent, and on top of it you’ve got to put in a lot of work, because it’s not enough to have just talent.’
— Zdzislaw Prochownik
After three years with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Prochownik was let go. He found himself, at 28 years old, married and out of work for almost a year. Lightning struck in 1983 when the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra had an opening for a principal bassist.
“So I came and got it,” Prochownik said. “In three weeks everything changed, I got the job, my son was born, I moved, and I bought a house here. Everything happened in three weeks but like bang, bang, bang, bang, and that’s that.”
Now 60, Prochownik will retire at the end of this season and hopes to become a snowbird in Florida. In his spare time, he repairs and creates custom double bass bows and sails on Lake Winnipeg. Healso works with the Polish community in Winnipeg promoting their culture. For his efforts, he was given his Polish citizenship back.
He said the most memorable part of being in the WSO has been the high quality of music and the people.
“The best music ever written and performed in very high quality,” Prochownik said. “There’s not many professions where you can work with young people. Sixty-year-olds with 25 year olds on the same and equal basis, you can’t make a fool of yourself and talk about aches and pains. You have to get your iPhone and be on Facebook and at least just keep up, it keeps you young.”
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performs a Pops concert called Bond and Beyond: Celebrating 50 Years of 007 this weekend.
For further information and tickets, see wso.ca
For more information on Zdzislaw Prochownik’s double bass bows visit www.mts.net/~prochown/