Marta Ptaszynska is the Helen B. and Frank L. Sulzberger Professor of Music and the Humanities. An internationally known composer, she received the Award of the Polish Television Broadcasting Company for her first opera, Oscar of Alva. Among her very successful four operas, the most recent on Chopin commissioned for the Chopin Bicentennial 2010, The Lovers of the Valldemosa Monsatery, premiered with great success in Poland in December 2010 and received a special award from the Polish Minister of Culture. Her children’s opera, Mister Marimba, has been featured in the program of two opera houses, with over 160 performances in Warsaw and Cracow since 1998. Her work has been commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the National Opera in Poland. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Republic of Poland’s Officer Cross of Merit.