Paderewski Festival 2024 lineup announced
Tickets go on sale this summer for fall event
– The 2024 Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles will be held Oct. 31 – Nov. 3. For the first time in the festival’s history, the Nov. 2 Gala Concert will feature the San Luis Obispo Symphony and Maestro Andrew Sewell with soloist Janina Fiałkowska, performing Paderewski’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17.
Other works on the program include Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture and Mussorgsky’s celebrated Pictures at an Exhibition in Ravel’s orchestration.
Paderewski’s other major work, his Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 13, will be heard as the festival opens on the evening of Oct. 31, in a performance by the AKA Duo. Hailing from Japan, this violin and piano duo are winners of several chamber music competitions in Europe. Their concert at the Park Ballroom in downtown Paso Robles will also feature works by Beethoven and Lutosławski, among others.
On Friday, Nov. 1, Festival Gala pianist Janina Fiałkowska will give a 4 p.m. master class at Davidson Center, Room 218, Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Also, on Friday at 7 p.m., the Bandonegro Ensemble (piano, violin, accordion, and bass) will perform Argentine and Polish tangos from the 1930s at the Park Ballroom in downtown Paso Robles.
On Saturday, Nov. 2, at 11 a.m., there will be a private wine tasting with hors d’oeuvres at the historic Epoch Estate Wines in Templeton. This event will feature a lively talk with Epoch’s resident historian and is for Festival Patron Pass holders only.
The Festival fan-favorite Winners’ Recital of the annual Youth Piano Competition will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 3 p.m., back at the Park Ballroom, highlighting young artists ages 10-18 from Paso Robles and the surrounding counties. Also, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., patrons attending the evening concert with the San Luis Obispo Symphony (see below) will have a chance to hear a pre-concert lecture in the concert hall of the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
On Saturday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the SLO Performing Arts Center, the San Luis Obispo Symphony and piano soloist Janina Fiałkowska will perform works by Mozart, Paderewski, and Mussorgsky, led by Maestro Andrew Sewell.
Finally, on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 11 a.m., the festival will present young pianists from Poland and Ukraine at a matinee recital in the Park Ballroom in downtown Paso Robles. This concert is part of the Festival sponsored Youth Cultural Exchange Program. Since 2009, selected winners of the Youth Piano Competition in Paso Robles have traveled to Poland and, in alternate years, winners of piano competitions in Poland and Ukraine have visited California.
Tickets for these events will go on sale this summer.
For more information, go to www.paderewskifest.com, email paderewskifestpaso@gmail.com, or call (805) 235-5409.
