Paderewski Festival This Weekend in Paso Robles, CA

Held in venues throughout Paso Robles, California from November 2-6, 2016, this year’s Festival line-up includes performances by young pianists from California’s Central Coast and Cultural Exchange Program students from Poland and Ukraine, as well as a piano master class, film screening, and wine tasting opportunities.

Admission ranges from free for children under 18* to $40 for Premium Admission, $35 for General Admission, $25 for Seniors over 60 and Wine Industry, and $5 for Students 18 and over with ID.  (*Children under 18 are free with paid adult ticket; children must be reserved on Eventbrite.)  Friends of Paderewski Festival Passes with preferred seating at all events are $225. Tickets may be purchased online at www.paderewskifest.com or by calling (805) 235-5409.

This year’s Saturday, November 5 Gala Concert performer is pianist Tadeusz Domanowski. Born in Poland, he is a New York-based artist who has toured extensively over the past decade as soloist throughout Europe, America and Asia. He will present works by Chopin, Paderewski, Ryterband, Gershwin and Bizet at the Paso Robles Inn Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. Gala Concert sponsor Epoch Estate Wines will pour wines prior to the concert.  On Friday, November 6 at the historic Park Ballroom in downtown Paso Robles, Mr. Domanowski will also conduct a 2 p.m. piano master class, free and open to piano students and the general public.

The 2016 Festival opens Wednesday, November 2, with an invitation-only concert at Paso Robles High School featuring Cultural Exchange Program students from Poland and Ukraine.  This Exchange Program is jointly administered by the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, the Polish-Ukrainian Paderewski Festival in Warsaw and Lviv, the Wspólnota Polska Organization in Warsaw, and the Province of Tarnów.

The first public event will be a concert on Thursday, November 3 at 7 p.m. at Cass Winery with the Tomines Ensemble, featuring Polish guitarist Tomasz Fechner, Korean violist YuEun Kim and German guitarist Ines Thomé performing guitar and violin music by Paderewski, Piazzola, Ryterband and Tansman.  A no-host reception with Cass wines and a gourmet meal available for purchase will precede the concert.

On Friday, November 4, the USC Thornton Baroque Sinfonia—an ensemble of period instruments and voices specializing in music from the late 16th through mid-18th centuries led by Rotem Gilbert—will present a program of early Polish music at the Park Ballroom in downtown Paso Robles at 7 p.m.  Adelaida Vineyards & Winery will pour wines prior to the concert.

Promoting music appreciation among young members of the community and fostering growth of the local talent are important goals of the Paderewski Festival. It was Paderewski’s wish to establish a music school in Paso with free tuition for all students. Although his plans did not materialize during Paderewski’s lifetime, since 2007 the Festival has organized a Youth Piano Competition for pianists residing in four Central Coast counties. Winners of this year’s auditions (to be held on October 22) will be presented during a Festival recital on Saturday, November 5 at 4 p.m. in the Paso Robles Inn Ballroom. Admission is free.

Since 2009, the Paderewski Festival and the Province of Tarnów in Poland have also hosted a Cultural Exchange Program. Participants selected from among Festival Youth Piano Competition winners and their counterparts in Poland and Ukraine travel in alternating years to Paso Robles and to Paderewski’s manor house in Kąśna Dolna, Poland, with an itinerary that includes performances in Krakow and Warsaw.

The Festival will conclude on Sunday, November 6, at 3 p.m. with a Paderewski Birthday Celebration featuring Maestro Greg Magie and Symphony of the Vines, with Paderewski Festival Cultural Exchange Program students as solo guest artists.  Daniel Ha and Kannan Freyaldenhoven from the Central Coast, Sasha Dzvinkovsky and Yulia Medynska from Ukraine, and Magdalena Kuropatwa from Poland will perform their own orchestral arrangements of American, Polish and Ukrainian folksongs.  The Symphony will perform music by Lutosławski and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, featuring French soloist Brigitte Armenier, at Park Ballroom in Paso Robles. Individual tickets for this concert are available only through Symphony of the Vines, www.symphonyofthevines.org, however they are included in the Friends of Paderewski Pass.

The Festival also will feature a free film screening on Saturday, November 5, 10 a.m. at Park Cinemas in downtown Paso Robles. Wojciech Kilar—Credo is a recent documentary about Wojciech Kilar (1932-2013), a noted composer of concert and film music, who collaborated with such directors as Roman Polański, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jane Campion. The screening will be preceded with a short documentary from the 2014 Paderewski Festival directed by David Guzik.

To purchase tickets for the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles, CLICK HERE.

To volunteer, please contact Gracie Rey at info@paderewskifest.com  or call her at 805-235-5409.