Paderewski Festival returns to Paso Robles with concerts, events
The 2025 festival will open on Nov. 6, which also marks Paderewski’s 165th birthday
– The Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles announced the lineup for its 20th anniversary edition, which will be held Nov. 6-9.
The festival was relaunched in 2006 with a single concert at Cass Winery by the USC Polish Music Center. Since then, it has grown into a four-day event featuring concerts, wine tastings, tours, and other activities celebrating Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the pianist, statesman, and winemaker who once lived in Paso Robles.
KarIwo Duo. Photo by Anita Wasik.
The 2025 festival will open on Nov. 6, which also marks Paderewski’s 165th birthday. Events that day include an afternoon performance by the Paso Robles High School band at the Paderewski statue in City Park and an evening concert by the Cuesta College North County Chorus at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, where Paderewski attended services.
On Nov. 7, the Park Ballroom will host an afternoon and evening of music. At 4 p.m., festival gala soloist Adam Żukiewicz will lead a public master class with local piano students. That evening, the KarIwo Duo, comprised of violinist Karolina Mikołajczyk and accordionist Iwo Jedynecki, will perform. The duo received Poland’s Polityka Passport prize for classical music in 2024.
Events on Nov. 8 will begin with a recital featuring the festival’s Youth Piano Competition winners, ages 10 to 18, from four surrounding counties. That evening, Żukiewicz will headline the gala concert, following a tasting of Paderewski-inspired Epoch Estate Wines. Fresh from his Carnegie Hall debut, Żukiewicz will perform works by Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Paderewski, and Scriabin.
The festival will close Nov. 9 with a matinee performance by two Central Coast students who were selected for the 2025 Cultural Exchange Program in Poland. Diplomatic representatives from the Consulate General of Poland in Los Angeles and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw will attend.
Tickets and passes are available at www.paderewskifest.com.
