Pianos have always been like magnets for Stan Breckenridge, musicologist and Cal State Fullerton music history teacher for 26 years.
“Before I got the piano, I used to walk by a piano and get goose bumps because I love that instrument that much,” he said. “I felt I was drawn to it. It’s just one of those feelings that’s hard to explain. But I can say I felt compelled. I couldn’t say no to it.”
His first instrument was an organ, a gift from his parents while he was in middle school. Breckenridge recalls sitting on a brick planter outside his home in Compton, feeling sad that he didn’t have access to a piano.
“I look behind me and my mother has the curtain open and she’s smiling. She knew what was on my mind,” he said. “Then within about 15 minutes, a big truck pulls up to the house and out comes an organ.”
Though Breckenridge had only played piano at the church and at his uncle’s hog ranch in Lancaster, the organ was just fine by him.
There wasn’t a headset, so he rigged one.
“I used to get up at 2 a.m. and practice because I loved it so much,” he said.
At Compton High School, Breckenridge was part of a band called the Sematics.
“We were the most popular thing in town,” he said. “We were like the Temptations.”
The group won a Pepsi-sponsored “battle of the bands” recording contract in 1969, which included a car and cash. Breckenridge never signed the contract, though, because he was college-bound. His high school choir director steered him to Cal State Fullerton, where there was a scholarship available. Breckenridge received his bachelor’s in choral conducting in 1974.
After graduating, he taught a class at CSUF until 1979, then performed in groups and as a soloist, and returned to teaching at CSUF in 1988, while earning his master’s and doctoral degree in musicology at Claremont Graduate University.
At CSUF, Breckenridge teaches history classes in African American music appreciation, blacks in the performing arts, and Pan-African dance and movement. He also teaches an intra-cultural socialization class.
“I’m trying to teach them how to appreciate someone who doesn’t look like you,” he said.
In 2004-2005, he embraced all of his experiences in teaching and performance and went to Poland on a Fulbright, a grant for scholarly work in other countries. In 2012-2013, he returned to Poland as a U.S. Distinguished Chair Fulbright Scholar. And he keeps going back, now on his own.
Breckenridge is one of about 40 CSUF faculty members who have been awarded a Fulbright. Applying for a Fulbright is a competitive process, involving a merit-based selection by a 12-member board that’s been appointed by the U.S. president.
The Fulbright is an educational and cultural exchange meant to create mutual understanding between the United States and more than 155 other countries that participate in the program, which was founded in 1946 and administered by the U.S. State Department.
Of all the countries to go to, why Poland? After visiting colleague Michael Steiner, CSUF professor emeritus of American studies, who was in Poland on a Fulbright, Breckenridge discovered he loved the country and its people.
“The culture is so rich,” Breckenridge said. “Poland has such a long and rich, rich history. It’s been bombarded, torn apart. It’s been invaded.”
With Germany to the west and Russia to the east, Poland is sort of a hub, a transition between the east and west, he said.
And Polish audiences fell in love with him.
“He’s warm, energetic and charming,” said Steiner, who’s known Breckenridge for 30 years.
“He just really captivated large audiences,” Steiner said. “I was there and saw him do it. He was quite celebrated.”
Breckenridge stands out in that there aren’t many black people in Poland. The nation, which is is one of the most racially homogenous in the world, is fond of African American music, Steiner said. African American music includes spirituals, rhythm and blues, soul, funk and hip-hop.
Fulbright recipients are expected to serve many roles simultaneously, working as scholars, teachers, researchers, mentors, artists, philanthropists, cultural ambassadors and social entrepreneurs.
Though he’s not fluent, Breckenridge learned Polish, a requirement of the Fulbright.
Poland is still in transition, as communist rule only ended in 1989, he said.
The country is further along than some other countries in its transition as a democracy, he said.
“It’s very evident among the younger generation. College students are embracing the changes,” he said. “In terms of fashion, you wouldn’t even know the difference between there and here.”
Poland is part of the Schengen Area, 26 European countries where passports don’t need to be shown at their shared borders. That helps boosts cultural awareness, Breckenridge said.
Breckenridge is in Poland now. He was set to give a concert Jan. 19 with Klaudia Kowalik, a young and up-and-coming violinist and singer he has performed and collaborated with, as well as mentored. Kowalik has performed for Anna Komorowska, the first lady of Poland, at the Presidential Palace.
As a Fulbright scholar in Poland, Breckenridge combined teaching and lecture with performance. Blending both is his specialty, he said.
One of the lectures he gave to students, audiences and groups of Polish teachers was “African American music: A representation of American identity.” In the lecture, Breckenridge selected 10 identifiers of what it means to be an American, including freedom, individuality, creativity and democracy, and represented those through various styles of African American music.
People have preconceived notions of what an American is, he said. Polish people tell him Americans smile a lot.
“Another thing they adore about us is we can turn a bad situation into a good situation. We are very optimistic,” he said.
Through music, Breckenridge also discusses weighty issues that America deals with such as immigration, gay rights, feminism and racism. He’ll sit at his piano and play the song “Respect,” written and performed first by Otis Redding and made a hit by Aretha Franklin, as an example of a song that reflects many social issues of its time.
“These students are very educated. They’re aware of the issues we are dealing with here,” he said.
Though the United States and Poland may have some of the same issues, they may not be spoken of the same way in the two countries, Breckenridge said. Polish people tend to be more reserved, he said.
In Poland, there are divisions between men’s and women’s roles, Breckenridge said, adding that the United States has advocated for women’s rights for decades, while Poland has only done so for about 25 years.
If he’s speaking to a musical audience, he talks about the lyrics and the reason a person chose a chord or a rhythm at a particular time in history.
All of his lecture-performances are participatory, much like his classes at CSUF. Though it’s hard to get his students to sing in class, audiences in Poland, despite being generally more reserved than American audiences, will sing out, he said.
He will sit at his piano and engage the audience.
“I always get people to sing,” he said. “It is a great icebreaker.”
In Poland, Breckenridge taught at Marie Curie-Sklodowska University and lectured at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. His wife, Glennis, joined him on his adventure.
“We befriended a number of people,” he said. “We have some dear, dear friends.”
There, he recorded two CDs with Kowalik, the most recent, “Jazz is Alive!” and the other, “All About Jazz.”
He’s grown to love Poland and when he retires, he might consider living there for half the year.
“The people are wonderful,” he said. “You have to sort of get to know them before they open up to you, but once they do, you become a family member, which is something that really meant a lot to me.”
