Celebrating the unique musical genius of the Polish born Fryderyk Chopin, the Festival will draw those attending even closer to the elegant maestro. and so it returns to the Polish Social and Cultural Centre POSK, in London, on Saturday the 21st October 2023 His compositions are deserving of every superlative description from the lexicon of praise as they continue to increase in popularity among music lovers around the world. . . .
Festival programme is as follows
CHOPIN EXHIBITION – In the Sala Orłów.
jointly organised by the POSK Library and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw entitled Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849).
PRIZEGIVING – In the Atrium
Polish Schools Chopin Poetry Competition.
TALKS in The Jazz Club
Professor John Rink
Professor of Musical Performance Studies in the Cambridge Faculty of Music, and Fellow and Director of Studies in Music at St John’s College.
“ How did Chopin Play “ ?
Dr Ewa Sławińska-Dahlig
Director General of the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Poland
“ Pupils of Fryderyk Chopin “
Lady Rose Cholmondeley
President of the Chopin Society in the UK
“ Chopin in Majorca “
GALA CONCERT in the POSK Theatre with
They will perform –
Mateusz Borowiak
Known for his “ profound musicality and musical profundity” ,he has played many top venues and festivals around the world – such as The Wigmore Hall, , Sejong Arts Center in Seoul, The Merkin Hall in New York,The Shanghai Symphony Hall, The International Chopin Festival in Duszniki and the Rubinstein Piano Festival. Awarded top prizes at international piano competitions including The Queen Elisabeth in Brussels and the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe. Performed with The Royal Philharmonic, The National Orchestra of Belgium, The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has released a number of critically acclaimed CDs, continues to give masterclasses and is currently assistant professor at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland. .
Alina Bzhezhinska & Margaret Preston (Harp and Flute Duet)
Alina is undoubtedly one of the leading harpists in the world today, a one-woman powerhouse on a mission to bring the harp to the fore of contemporary sound. She studied Classical Harp at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, was the resident harp tutor at the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Scotland for seven years and has performed at Balmoral Castle for HM the Queen’s 80th Birthday.
“…Bzhezhinska shares with Alice (Coltrane) a mastery of the jazz harp.” ★★★★★, The Times She has strongly condemned the Russian invasion of her Ukrainian homeland. Margaret has a busy concert schedule playing orchestrally with Aberdeen Sinfonietta and in chamber music ensemble with wind quintet Corten5, McCash percussion Ensemble and in duo with Alina, guitarist Anne Chaurand and pianist Joseph Long. Her concerts have taken her to Russia, Ukraine, Norway, Belgium, Canada and all over the UK. As visual artist she has work in national Collections and has been the recipient of numerous awards and residencies. Margaret and Alina have enjoyed working together on projects that combine their passions for art words and music.
Adam Palma
Adam Palma is an extraordinary and accomplished guitar player, acknowledged by his peers such as Al Di Meola, Biréli Lagréne, Janusz Olejniczak and Leszek Możdżer. His album “Adam Palma Meets Chopin” was the first album to present Chopin’s compositions in arrangements for the acoustic guitar. He is a professor of musical arts, lecturer at the University of Salford and at the Music Academy in Gdańsk. He was awarded the Bronze “Gloria Artis” for his contributions to Polish Culture by the President of Poland Andrzej Duda.
Jakub Kuszlik
is the winner of many laurels in piano competitions – in
particular 4th Prize ex aequo of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and the Polish Radio Prize for best mazurka performance.
2nd prize in the X International Ignacy Jan Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz (2016).
2nd prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in USA March 2019.
3rd prize at the Top of the World International Piano Competition in Tromso, Norway June 2019.
semi-finalist of the Beethoven Competition in Bonn (2017).
He has given concerts in, among others, the USA, Japan, Vietnam, Germany, Italy, Greece, Norway, Iceland, France, Lithuania, Kosovo, Brasil as well as Poland. In November 2018, the pianist performed with great success at the Lincoln Center in New York.
In February 2022 his first solo album “Brahms, Chopin” was released by Polish Radio.
CHOPIN JAZZ – Stephen Ellery Project in Jazz Club
Stephen Ellery is a multi-instrumentalist and orchestral conductor. He has conducted orchestras in Europe, Asia and Latin America. His attachment to Polish Music and Poles saw him conducting a 65 piece London Gala Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in 2018 at the “STO LAT” Concert celebrating 100 years of Poland’s return to Independence. For a moment during this concert he switched to play solo saxophone in the middle of Edyta Górniak’s performance. Stephen has worked extensively with orchestras and singers from Poland and in London he has organised and conducted productions of many operas by Stanisław Moniuszko. As a saxophone player he has performed at music festivals and played on recordings. In 1989 he happened to be in Berlin and as the Wall was being torn down he climbed up upon it and played his sax – an image captured by many photographers.
Tickets at Eventbrite
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Polish Social and Cultural Centre, 238-246 King Street, London W6 0RF
Produced by Janusz Sikora-Sikorski KC*SG janusz@sikorasikorski.com
The Chopin Festival is a joint collaboration between
The Relief Society For Poles Trust ( Charity No. 327128 ) and the Polish Social & Cultural Association POSK ( Charity No 236745 ).
