We invite visitors to the 3rd International Ignacy Jan Paderewski Festival. The programme will feature jazz concerts, piano recitals, as well as workshops and musical meetings. Other attractions will include films and talks about the work of the famous Polish pianist, composer, activist, and statesman.
The Festival, which is organised by the "AVE ARTE" foundation, will be held from 5 to 11 November 2016 in several locations in Warsaw – the Warsaw Philharmonic, Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio, the Royal Łazienki Museum, as well as the Royal Castle and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music. Artists from France, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, and Poland will perform.
The festival will be inaugurated in the Warsaw Philharmonic on 5 November at 6:00 p.m. – with a symphony concert. It will feature the performance of pianist Hubert Rutkowski, who will play on the Bösendorfer piano made in 1882 and brought to Poland specially for this occasion; it was once owned by Teodor Leszetycki – the teacher of Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Other performers will include soloists, the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The audience will have a chance to listen to compositions by Paderewski, Mozart, and a rarely performed piano concerto in C minor by Leszetycki.
The next day, on the 156th birth anniversary of the remarkable Polish pianist, the following musicians will play their recitals in the Royal Castle: French pianist François Dumon, Paulina Sokołowska (violin), and Janusz Olejniczak (piano).
Visitors are invited to the Royal Łazienki for the festival events starting from 7 November. On that day – at noon – a discussion panel devoted to the work of Paderewski will be held in the Palace on the Isle. The panel’s members will include prominent musicologists, historians and journalists. Several hours later (at 7:00 p.m.), a chamber concert of Polish music will be played in the Royal Theatre. It will be performed by a piano trio consisting of: Edward Wolanin (piano), Barbara Piotrowska (cello), and the evening’s special guest – Mexican artist José Adolfo Alejo Solis (violin).
The audience will also listen to compositions by Polish composers during the vocal recital of Małgorzata Pańko (mezzo-soprano), and the violin recital of Konstanty Andrzej Kulka. Visitors are invited to the Royal Theatre on 9 November at 7:00 p.m.
Concerts for children
The festival will also feature events for the younger audience members. For infants and small children (up to 9 years old) and their carers, a special concert has been prepared. Its formula is based on the music learning theory of Elias E. Gordon. Children will listen to compositions by Paderewski as well as opera duets and songs performed by soloists accompanied by piano music. We invite you to the Officer Cadets School on 8 November at 10:00 a.m.
Older children will have an opportunity to listen to a concert by the "ANIMATO" band, whose members will perform compositions by Chopin, Moniuszko, Paderewski and Bach on harmonicas – for the first time in the world. Games, quizzes and competitions will enrich the performance. The event will start on 8 November at 1:00 p.m., in the Officer Cadets School. Attractions for children aged 3–5 will include music workshops (9 November, 10:00 a.m., Officer Cadets School).
Jazz in the Royal Theatre
The programme of this year’s festival also includes a concert from the "Paderewski – Jazz Inspirations" series. On 10 November at 7:00 p.m., in the Royal Theatre, jazz versions of compositions by Polish composers – Chopin, Moniuszko, Paderewski – will be performed by the sextet consisting of Włodzimierz Nahorny with the guest appearance of vocalist Dorota Miśkiewicz. The concert will be accompanied by film etudes about the outstanding Polish pianist made by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.
The festival will be concluded with a screening of films about Paderewski, which will take place on 11 November at 12:00 noon in the Officer Cadets School.
Admission to all events is free. Free entry tickets are available at the Royal Łazienki ticket offices.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski was born on 6 November 1860 in Kuryłówka in Podolia in the family of land estate administrator. In 1872, he began his studies at the Musical Institute in Warsaw, continued education in Berlin, and then perfected piano artistry in Vienna. At the same time, he composed music.
In 1888, he played a series of concerts in the Salle Erard of Paris, which began his brilliant career as a pianist. Three years later, his tour in the United States was a great success too. From that time, he performed in almost all European countries and both Americas as well as in Africa and Australia. He was considered one of the greatest pianists of his era.
In his piano compositions he introduced the rhythmicity of Polish popular dances. An extensive use of the variation and polifony techniques was their significant feature. The musician left also one opera - “Manru” to the libretto by Alfred Nossiga on the basis of Chaty za wsią of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski.
During the first world war, using numerous connections in the world of politics, he supported the Polish aspirations to regain independence.
On 28 June 1919 , as prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, together with Roman Dmowski he headed the Polish delegation to the peace conference in Paris and signed - on behalf of Poland - the Treaty of Versailles. He resigned from the post of prime minister on 9 December 1919. In January 1920, he left for Switzerland.
During the Second World War, once again, he sought help for Poland, also in the United States. He died 29 June 1941 in New York. He was buried in the Arlington military cemetery in Washington. In 1992, his ashes were brought back to Poland and laid to rest in the metropolitan cathedral of St. John in Warsaw.
