Other things to know about my father and the thaddeuskozuch.com website:

The website was born from a hospital bed: 

During a two-week hospital stay in April-May 2021, while recovering in the Serbian National Covid center, I found myself bored with inactivity.  (There I was, in the intensive care section, just stuck in bed for what seemed like almost hourly visits by nurses or doctors to poke me with needles, push pills, replace oxygen bottles, or perform examinations).  Fortunately many of my father's recitals and home studio audio recordings were stored on my cell phone.  With nothing else to do, and perhaps long overdue anyway, I created an initial version of the thaddeuskozuch.com website - all from that hospital bed.  I'm fully recovered now, and the website, born from a hospital bed, has grown over recent years with much new and improved musical and informational content about Thaddeus Kozuch.  

Thaddeus Kozuch...

... was a well-known musician, but he was also a father.  Dad taught me how to fish, play baseball, learn to swim, work with tools (his hands were insured!), and enjoy a beer.  A scholar with absolutely no interest in driving a car, he never even owned a driver's license (that was mom's responsibility).  Dad was just fine with using a city bus and an elevated train to make his daily travels to and from his downtown Chicago studio to teach or perform, or making his regular train travel to Davenport and Des Moines Iowa where he also taught and performed.  Dad smoked (a lot), always with a pipe.  He owned a collection of over 500 of them.  My sister and I could never convince him to give up his smelly habit. 

1. Recent discovery - CSO musicians:

While home in Chicago this summer (2024) I spent several months gathering and scanning many more of Thaddeus Kozuch's photos and documents.  I was pleased to learn that he had often performed duo recitals with some of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's musicians.  As a cellist myself, it was good to know that these included cellists Ennio Bolognini (CSO principal for one season 1929-1930) and Daniel Saidenberg (CSO from 1930 to 1937).  Other CSO musicians also performed in joint recitals and chamber ensembles with dad. 

2. Recent revelation - Congress of Scholars:

Thaddeus Kozuch was invited to give a recital and lectures at Poland's Congress of Scholars in 1979 from July 15 to 20 in Warsaw and Krakow. 

3. Another revelation - famous Jazz student Fred Kaz:

Thaddeus Kozuch taught a number of students who themselves created classical music and/or teaching careers.  One unique situation was that of Kozuch's student Fred Kaz, a fine classical pianist who suffered the misfortune of losing parts of several of his fingers on one hand.  Guidance from Professor Kozuch helped him learn how to cope with this loss to manage scales and eventually become a jazz pianist/composer.  Fred became the highly regarded pianist in residence at The Second City in Chicago's Old Town for about 30 years, and he also produced several jazz albums including Eastern Exposure, an album given by Kaz to my father.

( to play the album, select the link below - or choose "Noted Students" from the menu )