Paderewski Festival features symphony collaboration for first time
Event returns Oct. 31-Nov. 3
– The 2024 Paderewski Festival will take place from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, featuring performances, master classes, and special events across Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. For the first time in the festival’s history, the Nov. 2 Gala Concert will feature a collaboration with the San Luis Obispo Symphony, under the direction of Maestro Andrew Sewell, and renowned soloist Janina Fiałkowska. The program will include Paderewski’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 17, along with Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel.
The festival will open on Thursday, Oct. 31, at the Park Ballroom in Paso Robles with a performance by violinist Seina Matsuoka and pianist Yuto Kiguchi, known as the AKA Duo. Their program will feature sonatas by Beethoven and Paderewski, as well as works by Witold Lutosławski and Miłosz Magin. This concert is presented in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and the National Institute of Music and Dance, with support from Poland’s Ministry of Culture.
On Friday, Nov. 1, Fiałkowska will conduct a master class at 4 p.m. at the Davidson Center, Room 218, at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. That evening, the Bandonegro Ensemble will perform Argentine and Polish tangos at 7 p.m. at the Park Ballroom in Paso Robles.
On Saturday, Nov. 2, a private wine tasting will be held at Epoch Estate Wines in Templeton at 11 a.m., featuring a talk with the winery’s resident historian. This event is reserved for Festival Patron Passholders. At 3 p.m., the Youth Piano Competition Winners’ Recital will take place at the Park Ballroom, highlighting young pianists from Paso Robles and surrounding counties, aged 10 to 18.
That evening, the Gala Concert will take place at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. The event will begin with a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m., followed by the San Luis Obispo Symphony’s performance at 7:30 p.m., featuring Paderewski’s Piano Concerto with Fiałkowska as the soloist. The program will also include Mozart and Mussorgsky’s works.
The festival will close on Sunday, Nov. 3, with a matinee recital at 11 a.m. at the Park Ballroom in Paso Robles, featuring young Polish pianists Dymitr Szostak, 15, and Józef Wesołowski, 14. The recital is part of the Paderewski Festival-sponsored Youth Cultural Exchange Program, which has enabled young pianists from Paso Robles and Poland to perform in each other’s countries since 2009. A brunch for festival patrons and friends will precede the recital.
For more information and tickets, visit www.paderewskifest.com.
