Wiesław Dąbrowski, President of the AVE ARTE Foundation and director of the Paderewski International Festival in Warsaw, recently sent us two very interesting items. The first is a program booklet of the Sixth International Paderewski Festival that was held November 2-10, 2019 in Warsaw. With several attractive venues (The Royal Castle, Lutosławski Concert Studio, Warsaw Philharmonic, the Royal Łazienki Museum and the Chopin Music University), the Festival presented such artists as pianists Ian Hobson, Krzysztof Książek, and Szymon Nehring, conductor Michał Klauza and the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra.
Children’s concerts, master classes, lectures, and film screenings accompanied the Festival as well. The other gift to PMC from Mr. Dąbrowski was a DVD of his film, General Równy—Ambasador Pokoju [General Rowny—Ambassador for Peace]. Mr. Dąbrowski’s film celebrates the long life of Edward L. Rowny (1917-2017), a commanding officer in World War II and Korea, a military advisor to five United States presidents and a negotiator on the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Gen. Rowny was also a great fan of Ignacy Jan Paderewski and heard him in concert in Baltimore as a child. After retiring from active service in 1990, Gen. Rowny wrote several books and in 2004 established the Paderewski Scholarship Fund chartered with bringing students from Poland to Georgetown University in Washington, DC. In 1992, Gen. Rowny participated in the repatriation of Paderewski’s remains to Poland as part of the official U.S. delegation led by President George Bush.
As always—to all our generous donors—thank you! Dziękujemy!