'Grow the awareness': Renowned polka musicians buy publishing company, aim to raise stature of 'vibrant and surprisingly complex' music

Sep. 10—WINDBER — Music virtuoso Zupe, of Windber, has taken his love of polka to another level.

Two years after producing the Grammy-nominated polka CD "Na zdrowie! (Nostrovia!)," the composer and producer has joined forces with veteran accordionist Alex Meixner, of New Braunfels, Texas, to take ownership of Music Publishers of America.

"We've been friends for years and we've always wanted to work together," Zupe said, who received a text from Meixner in January that simply read: "Do you want to buy a publishing company with me?"

The message led to a telephone call that got the barrel rolling.

"This sounds pretty cool," Zupe told his new business partner, and by late August the men owned the publishing rights to nearly 1,000 registered copyrights on original compositions, arrangements and lyrics.

The company's primary business is the sale of music associated with the predecessor of Music Publishers of America — the historic Vitak-Elsnic Co. — which is considered the world's premier collection of American polka music, setting the standard for the genre that represents German, Austrian, Slovenian, Czech and Polish communities throughout the United States.

Zupe and Meixner plan to use their combined talents and decades of experience to take the vast collection and modernize it for use in the 21st century.

"Polka music should be held in the same high regard as jazz and classical music," Zupe said. "It is the music brought to this country by the immigrants who helped industrialize our nation. It is an integral part of the cultural fabric of this nation, and I look forward to introducing more people to this vibrant and surprisingly complex music."

Meixner, who Zupe referred to as his "Head Polka Commando" on "Na zdrowie!," is a fourth-generation polka-performing artist with Austrian and Czech roots. He has entertained audiences worldwide since the age of 6.

"I'm excited to build upon the rich history of the Vitak-Elsnic music publishing company in its next chapter," Meixner said. "This catalog has played a big part in my personal musical soundtrack, through three generations of my family, and I look forward to working with Zupe to grow the awareness of this music for its past, present and future relevance."

With a credit card and a few clicks of a mouse, musicians and band directors can download sheet music arrangements of polkas, waltzes and marches from their website.

The physical library of music is archived in a few locations — one being Bowling Green State University in Ohio, which currently has two copies of every piece of the printed catalog in the music library.

"We formed with them in 2014 the Polka Preservation Fund," Zupe said. "It's a large library of the sheet music, as well as our sound recordings and even a couple of musical instruments, if I'm not mistaken."

Zupe said the music he and Meixner now own the rights to is a big part of his family's heritage.

"It's personal to me," he said. "My mother's father was born in what was Czechoslovakia to two Russian parents."

The polka music that he heard in the background of his youth on Sunday morning radio shows and at fire hall weddings has now become a defining genre that led to his most successful musical endeavor to date.

"Na zdrowie!" garnered 23 national and international awards.

Handing over the reigns to Meixner and Zupe is business tax attorney Steven D. Harris, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, who said in a press release: "Since its founding, there have only been four owners of the Vitak-Elsnic Co. For the past 14 years, I have been honored to serve as the steward of this priceless piece of America's musical heritage.

"In addition to their musical prowess, Alex and Zupe have boundless energy and enthusiasm. I am confident they will continue the process of not only preserving and promoting the catalog, but in building on it in new and exciting ways."