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.
2025 also marks the 165th birthday of the Festival’s patron, thus this year will open on Thursday, November 6 (Paderewski’s birthday) with a special performance by the Paso Robles High School Band at the foot of the Paderewski monument in the downtown Paso Robles Park. Festivities in the park will be followed by an evening concert performed by the North County Chorus of Cuesta College at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, which Paderewski attended whenever he was in Paso.
On 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 Jedinecki—who were 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 5 surrounding counties. That evening, the jewel of the Festival—the Gala Concert—will feature pianist Adam Żukiewicz performing works by Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Paderewski and Scriabin, preceded by a tasting of Paderewski-inspired Epoch Estate Wines.
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. This year’s Festival will be attended by representatives of the Polish government in the US and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw, as well as family members of prominent musicians who will be performed on Festival programs.