Chopin Society of Atlanta

By Bill Osinski
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/03/07

The strains of a Chopin sonata can touch a heart in Snellville.

About two years ago, Linda Merkler accepted a friend's invitation and attended a piano concert sponsored by the Atlanta Chopin Society. The small group is led mostly by Polish-Americans and is dedicated to preserving the musical legacy of Polish-born pianist and composer Frederic Chopin.

Merkler will be in the audience for the society's next concert, on Sunday evening at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center, featuring French pianist Marc Laforet

Merkler, of Snellville, is not of Polish heritage, nor was she a serious devotee of classical music at the time. About all she knew of Chopin was what she could recall from piano lessons of her youth.

But, she said, she knew great music when she heard it.

"I was really amazed at the caliber of the performers," Merkler said.

She and her husband, Marty, were so impressed that they have assisted in fund-raising for the all-volunteer group ever since. Their daughter, Kristin Bell, designs promotional materials for the society's concerts.

Merkler said she didn't need to learn Polish to fit in with the Polish members of the society.

"We've been brought into the family," she said.

That "family" is one whose members are united by a love of fine music.

The Atlanta Chopin Society was established about seven years ago by Dorota Lato, a Polish-born Alpharetta pianist and music educator, and her husband, pianist Piotr Folkert. In 1999, the 150th anniversary of Chopin's death, they wrote and performed a musical and narrative tribute to the composer.

They established the society to promote awareness of Chopin and other expressions of classical music. There are about five or six other musical societies dedicated to Chopin around the United States, and there is an International Chopin Society based in Warsaw.

Laforet finished second in the Warsaw society's annual competition last year. His concert is one of three presented annually by the Atlanta Chopin Society.

Although Chopin is revered in his homeland of Poland, "his music is universal," Lato said. "He is so human. Even if you do not know much about classical music, you can still love Chopin," she said.

Chopin emigrated from Poland to Paris during a revolutionary time, when that country was partitioned by other, more powerful nations. That strain of Polish history was repeated throughout much of the 20th century, and Chopin's music was a rallying point for national and cultural pride during both those eras, she said.

For Merkler, her work in the Atlanta Chopin Society is her way of helping to broaden the cultural horizons of modern America, where too few experience classical music regularly.

"This music can benefit our entire society," Merkler said.