This year’s edition of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles is the twentieth since it was restarted as a single concert at Cass Winery in 2006, at the initiative of the USC Polish Music Center. The Festival has since blossomed into a four-day event, filled with music, wine tastings, tours and other events held in celebration of Paso Robles’s most famous former resident—the great pianist-statesman-winemaker, Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
This year’s Festival will open on Thursday, November 6, which also marks Paderewski’s 165 birthday. Celebrations will include an afternoon performance by the Paso Robles High School band at the Paderewski statue in City Park and an evening concert by the North County Chorus of Cuesta College at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, where Paderewski attended services when in Paso.
On the evening of Friday, November 7, the unique and enthralling sound of violin and accordion will fill the historic Park Ballroom. The concert will be performed by the dynamic, young Kar-Iwo Duo. Comprised of violinist Karolina Mikołajczyk and accordionist Iwo Jedynecki (pictured at left), this ensemble was awarded Poland’s most prestigious ‘Polityka Passport’ prize for classical music in 2024.
Events on Saturday, November 8 begin with the always popular afternoon recital of the Festival’s Youth Piano Competition Winners, aged 10-18 and hailing from four surrounding counties. That evening, the jewel of the Festival—the Gala Concert—will feature Polish pianist Adam Żukiewicz, preceded by a tasting of Paderewski-inspired Epoch Estate Wines. Fresh from his recent Carnegie Hall debut, Mr. Żukiewicz will perform works by Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Paderewski and Scriabin for the Paderewski Festival’s Saturday night Gala Concert.
The jubilee 2025 Paderewski Festival will close on Sunday, November 9 with a matinee performance by two Central Coast students selected for the 2025 Cultural Exchange Program in Poland—follow the Paderewski Festival on Instagram and Facebook to re-live the Exchange journey that happened earlier this month. This year’s Festival will be attended by diplomatic representatives from the Consulate General of Poland in Los Angeles and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw.