Msgr Vladimir Felzmann: My 20 years with the Genesis Foundation

3 April 2023

Soon after my January 1985 arrival at Westminster Cathedral , as Vice-chair of The Passage, I met John Studzinski – Studz to many of his friends. We hit it off. In the first Spring after the collapse of The Iron curtain, John came to Prague (my home country). Then John invited me for a short stay in St Petersburg. Fascinating experience. Then, in 1991,  John travelled with us and Basil Hume by coach to  – and from – Czestochowa world youth day, August 10-15.

When in 1997 John commissioned Roxanna Panufnik to compose a mass for Basil Hume’s  75^th birthday he asked me to mentor her on the theology of the liturgy. Because or maybe despite this, the product was beautiful.

Thus, not altogether surprisingly, when John founded the Genesis Foundation he invited me to be one of its trustees.

Genesis was very much about nurturing young artists. Initially – and what attracted me – the main objective was to set exceptionally talented young people in the arts, primarily active at undergraduate and postgraduate level, firmly on the path to fulfilling their creative and professional potential.

Gradually, it evolved and now the Foundation’s main focus is on partnerships with leading arts organisations such as the Almeida Theatre, National Theatre, Young Vic Theatre, The Sixteen, and Jewish Book Week.

Thanks to the people I met and events we discussed – some of which I was able to attend – it turned out to be for me a twenty-year education in the arts. It also enabled me to meet interesting people such as Harry Christophers, Michael Portillo and Mark Carney – who was one of the readers of  The Passion  when,  in 2016,  I celebrated mass as part of  John’s 60th birthday celebration in Venice.

Then there was Adrian Myers. I first met  Adrian 25 years ago, when he was in his mid-twenties and had been commissioned to take pictures at John’s 40^th birthday party. He subsequently became the man entrusted with making a photographic record of events in London and around England, and in cities such as Edinburgh, Salzburg and Venice.

Thanks to John, Adrian was there for my 80^th birthday celebrations at Westminster Cathedral Hall and took some memorable – and beautiful – pictures. He died, unexpectedly, 19^th December 2022. A lovely man. I miss him still. 

Thanks to John’s kindness – and I like to think wisdom – I will be able to stay in contact with the Genesis Foundation as Trustee Emeritus. Upwards and onwards Genesis!

Msgr Vladimir Felzmann, Genesis Foundation trustee 2001-2023
Trustee Emeritus 2023