Monday, Jun 29, 2020
Marion Zarzeczna, a longtime faculty member of Westminster Choir College and the Westminster Conservatory of Music, died on June 1. The Trenton native, who performed as a soloist and accompanist on piano throughout the United States and Europe, was 89.
Zarzeczna’s obituary noted that her “passion and dedication to classical piano made her a very sought-after teacher and mentor. Her students have received numerous awards and scholarships and have achieved great success in the music world. She was extremely proud of her students and loved them dearly.”
Born Trenton, Zarzeczna received a Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1954, where she studied with Mieczyslaw Hoszowski. She won the Leschetizky Debut prize and a two-year Fulbright grant for study with Peitro Scarpini in Florence, Italy.
She performed numerous recitals in the United States as well as Europe, appearing as a soloist and accompanying the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra, The Seventh Army Orchestra in Germany and the Polish National Radio Orchestra.
Zarzeczna joined the Westminster faculty in 1971. She was also on the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music and a devoted congregant of Holy Cross Church In Trenton.
Zarzeczna was predeceased by her parents, Paul and Anna of Trenton and brothers Paul of Pennington, N.J., and Joseph of Trenton. She leaves behind her sister-in-law, Barbara (Paul) Zarzeczny of Langhorne, Pa; her nephew Mark (Kelly) of Boynton Beach Fla;, her nieces Susan (Drew) Zarzeczny of Langhorne, Pa., Teresa (Edward) Bell of Medford, N.J., and Karen (Wes) Kerns of Franklin, Mass., as well as many grandnieces and grandnephews and relatives in Eastern Poland.
A Catholic graveside service was held in St. John's Cemetery in Hamilton, N.J. Memorial Services will be held at Holy Cross Church at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to be made in Zarzeczna’s name to Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton, to be used only for memorial work in Holy Cross Church.