July 21, 2025

Kazimierz, A Story of Love and Destiny, the new one-act opera by MSM Composition alumnus William Goldstein (BM ’65), will have its world premiere opening the influential IMAGINE Culture Without Borders Second International Festival on August 14 in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland.

William “Bill” Goldstein is an Emmy- and Grammy-nominated American composer and recording artist with more than 70 albums and 50 movie and film scores to his name.

His new 45-minute one-act opera, Kazimierz, A Story of Love and Destiny, for which Mr. Goldstein wrote both the libretto and the score, tells the story of King Kazimierz (Casimir III the Great) who, reigning from 1333 to 1370, changed the course of Poland in world history, and today is considered to be the country’s greatest king.

The opera, set in Kazimierz Dolny, was commissioned by Prinzessin Irina zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. It is scored for lead soprano (Ewa Leszczynska) and lyric baritone (Łukasz Hajduczenia), a chorus of 12 (Catholic University of Lublin vocal ensemble), and a chamber orchestra of 17 (Lublin Chamber Philharmonic, under the baton of Lilianna Krych). The Partner of the Festival is the Lubelskie Voivodeship – Marshal Office of the Lubelskie Voivodeship – Lubelskie.Taste life!

King Kazimierz was called “the Great” as he was considered a peaceful ruler and a skillful diplomat.

“King Kazimierz modernized his country’s legal codes, elevated its international presence, founded the University of Kraków in 1364, and changed the history and the culture of Poland and the world by inviting the people of his beloved Esterka, the Jews, to come to Poland under the protection of his court,” explains Mr. Goldstein.

“Over the centuries this event helped Poland evolve into an even greater center of learning education and culture,” he says.

CELEBRATING A POWERFUL LOVE STORY 

Kazimierz, A Story of Love and Destiny brings to life the story of King Kazimierz and Esterka.

Medieval Polish and Jewish chroniclers considered this legend to be historical fact, and report a tender love story between the beautiful Jewess and the great monarch.

Esterka was said to have played a significant role in Casimir’s life, and is believed to have been the King’s adviser in support of various initiatives: free trade, building stone cities, tolerance to representatives of different religious faiths, and support of cultural development.

A RECORDING, AND AN ANNUAL EVENT

The opera will be performed on August 14 at the festival in English, and will later be translated and performed in Polish. Tickets are free of charge.

“Following the performances, we will be recording the opera from August 16 to 19. I’m planning on releasing the recording on my record label which is distributed by The Orchard,” says Mr. Goldstein.”The plan is to perform the composition annually at the festival in Polish.”

“I’m honored and thrilled to have been tasked with telling this powerful story of love fate and destiny, I’m looking forward to the performance and the recording!” says Mr. Goldstein.

About William Goldstein

William Goldstein majored in composition at Manhattan School of Music, studying with Vittorio Giannini, Nicolas Flagello (BM ’49, MM ’50), and Ludmila Ulehla (BM ’47, MM ’48). After a stint as Composer in Residence for the United States Army Band, he went on to become a Motown recording artist, composer, and producer. He was commissioned for a U.S. Bicentennial work, Celebration Overture, which was performed by the National Symphony Orchestra in 1976.

He also achieved significant success composing for film and television, garnering three Emmy nominations and one Grammy nomination for his scores Fame, Hello Again, and Shocker. He has scored over 50 film and television projects (also including The Miracle Worker as well as The Twilight Zone).

Mr. Goldstein was also a CBS recording artist. In 1985, he created the first fully computer-sequenced, direct-to-digital score for NBC’s OceanQuest, which CBS Masterworks released as OceanScape. Around this time, he also wrote the score for Sierra-on-line’s King’s Quest IV, the first interactive computer game with a standalone musical score.

Mr. Goldstein specializes in what he calls “instant composition,” frequently collaborating with other musicians and with ballet dancers, as well as live-scoring films (frequently, he is seeing them for the first time as he scores).

In August 2011, he was invited by the Transatlantyk International Film and Music Festival in Poznan, Poland, to give Master Classes on the “Art of Instant Composition”. He also presided over the jury in what was most likely the first competition in “instant composition” in more than 100 years, although a musical expression practiced by most of the great composers throughout history.

The 2023 release was recorded in Tallinn, Estonia, and can be streamed here.