On December 1, Polonia honored the memory of the great Polish patriot Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The Kaufman Music Center hosted the concert “Paderewski Returns to New York.” A large Polish community and many VIP guests attended, including Ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski – Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations, Consul General of the Republic of Poland Mateusz Sakowicz and his wife, Consul Krzysztof Płaski, Defense Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington General Krzysztof Nolbert. The interest in the concert was so great that there were no seats left for everyone who wanted to attend. The Culture and Arts Foundation received many letters of congratulations, including from the Mayor of New York, in which Eric Adams expressed his appreciation for the organizers of the concert and noted that he was proud to lead a city with such a large and dynamically developing population of Polish Americans.
As the organizers announce, Ignacy Paderewski has permanently returned to New York, the city he loved and the city in which he died. The concert inaugurated the organization of the annual Ignacy Paderewski Festival in New York. During the evening, the Kaufman Music Center also hosted the premiere of an interesting documentary film “Paderewski in America”, which presented little-known episodes from the artist’s life in America and his patriotic activities in support of Poland’s regaining independence. More interesting facts about Ignacy Paderewski in America on the newly created website paderewskiny.org
The audience had a great time, rewarding the artists with thunderous applause, the excellent Kate Liu, winner of the 3rd prize and the prize for the best performance of mazurkas at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, winner of the International Chopin Competition Asia and Pacific, Kamil Pacholec, winner of the 2nd prize in the 11th International Ignacy Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, finalist of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition F. Chopin in Warsaw, Liana Paniyeva winner of the George Gershwin International Piano Competition and the Grand Prize in the “Metropolitan International Piano Competition” in New York.
The event was held under the Honorary Patronage of the Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York Mateusz Sakowicz, the Polish Museum in America, the Ignacy Paderewski Center in Kąśna Dolna. Partners of the event were Steinway & Sons Company, The Sembrich – Marcella Sembrich Kochańska Foundation, the Polish Army Veterans Association of America (SWAP) the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America, the Polish American Congress Foundation, the Polish Scientific Institute (PIASA), Solarz Printing, the Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia, the Society of Polish American Travel Agents (SPATA). Cooperation: the Institute of Polish Culture in New York. Media patronage: TVP Polonia, Nowy Dziennik, White Eagle, Dziennik Polonijny, Kurier Plus, Echo Polonijne, Dziennik Związkowy, Tygodnik Katolicki Niedziela, Super Express US. The concert was organized by the Culture and Art Foundation in cooperation with the Polish-Slavic Center.
The project is co-financed as part of the care of the Senate of the Republic of Poland for the Polish diaspora and Poles abroad in 2024.
