Fryderyk Chopin’s music at the Polish Independence Day celebrations at Expo 2020 Dubai

• The Fryderyk Chopin Institute and the Warsaw Philharmonic are Technical Partners for Poland’s participation in Expo 2020 in Dubai.
• The grand Polish music concert will take place on 11 November at 8.00 pm to mark the Independence Day celebrations. Entry is free to holders of Expo 2020 Dubai tickets.
• Visitors to the Poland Pavilion, at the very centre of Poland’s presence in Dubai, have a chance to listen to Chopin’s music three times daily. Open to Expo guests 7 days a week, special piano recitals performed by Polish pianists, present works of Fryderyk Chopin.

A grand concert by one of the Chopin Piano Competition winners at Expo 2020 in Dubai

Right next to growing our economic relations network in the Middle East and Asia, promotion of Polish culture is our priority when it comes to Poland’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. The World Exhibition is a global event – and Chopin and his music is a phenomenon on an international scale. The Independence Day celebrations offer a particularly good occasion to present the works of our genius composer. The central event will be a grand evening concert with the participation of Martín García García – whose performance was recently admired by an audience in Warsaw – and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. I am certain it will be an exciting event and a chance for audiences from all corners of the world to experience how Chopin’s music reflects the Expo leading motto – Connecting minds, creating the future, comments Adrian Malinowski, Commissioner General of the Polish Section Expo 2020 Dubai.

On the stage of the Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre, will perform Martín García García – winner of the third prize at the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition and the award of the Warsaw Philharmonic for the best performance of a concert. The pianist will be accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrzej Boreyko – conductor and artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic. The concert’s programme includes the Overture to Paria opera by Stanisław Moniuszko. This is one of the greatest orchestral works by the excellent composer, and his last music piece ever completed. ‘Libretto’, by Jan Chęciński, was based on the themes from Casimir Delavigne’s tragedy. Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor op. 21 will be the highlight of the evening. The programme will be completed with Serenade for Strings, op. 2 by Mieczysław Karłowicz, which consists of two parts and was first performed in Berlin in 1897.

The World Exhibition in Dubai is one of the most important economic events of this year. It is also a great opportunity to present Poland and the potential of Polish companies. PKN ORLEN is the Strategic Partner of the Poland Pavilion and the Official Patron of the "Chopin at Expo 2020 Dubai" project, the most important event of which will be a concert with Fryderyk Chopin's music. As the largest Polish company, as well as the leader of the energy transition in Central Europe, we consistently strengthen the global recognition of our brand and promote Polish culture - says Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.

We are glad that the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Andrzej Boreyko will perform as part of the Polish presence at the World Exhibition Expo 2020 Dubai. From the very beginning, the Warsaw Philharmonic is the home of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, which for almost one hundred years of existence has become one of the associations with Fryderyk Chopin and Poland in the world. We are looking forward to an artistic trip to Dubai and a concert with Martín García García, says Wojciech Nowak, Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Before the concert, there will be a grand performance of the Polish national anthem, Dąbrowski’s Mazurek. The event is planned for 3 pm in the Poland Pavilion. Following this, at 3.20 pm, the hosts of the Poland Pavilion will dance a polonaise with their guests.

The ‘Chopin at Expo 2020 Dubai’ project

The grand concert to celebrate Polish Independence Day is not the only occasion to listen to Chopin, whose music has been a permanent part of the Poland Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Every day, young Polish pianists give mini recitals featuring Chopin’s greatest musical pieces. Piano recitals take place in the Poland Pavilion at 4 pm, 6.30 pm and 9 pm every day. More than 120 concerts have taken place since the exhibition opened.

We are very glad that the music of Fryderyk Chopin, undoubtedly the most famous Polish composer, represents Poland in a place where the whole world meets. The performance of the laureate of the 18^th edition of the Chopin Competition on our national holiday, encourages to a positive reflection on the good position of Polish culture in the world. The competition was watched by tens of millions of people from all over the world, we are convinced that his epilogue at the Expo will also meet with a wide and positive response, says Aleksander Laskowski, spokesman of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.    

The figure of Fryderyk Chopin and his music have accompanied Poland’s participation in world exhibitions for many years now. Two unique projects were inaugurated at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. One of them was a ballet entitled Chopin – a romantic artist, based on the life and experiences of the great Polish romantic. Inspired by Waldemar Dąbrowski, Director of the Grand Theatre, the ballet was created by great French ballet master, Patrice Bart of the Parisian Opera, and its libretto was written by Antoni Libera. The ‘5 Pianos’ project had its global premiere at Expo in Shanghai. Five Polish pianists: Katarzyna Borek, Joanna Duda, Sławomir Jaskułke, Paweł Kaczmarczyk and Piotr Wyleżoł presented their own interpretations of selected Chopin works. At Expo 2015 in Milan, Chopin music was played during daily piano recitals. The gala concert that took place during Polish Day on 13 September 2015 was the central event. The audience in the Auditorium di Milano Findazione Cariplo heard Chopin’s Piano Concerto in E minor, op. 11 performed by Szymon Nehring and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under Jacek Kasprzyk. The performance took place less than a month before the 17th Chopin Piano Competition.

Chopin Piano Competitions as a stage for global piano music

In October 2021, the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition took place: just like Expo 2020, it had been postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An international jury, chaired by Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, decided to award the first prize to a Canadian pianist, Bruce Liu. Eighty-seven pianists from 17 countries took part in auditions for the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. Twelve of the highest ranked pianists qualified for the finals. Accompanied by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrzej Boreyko, the finalists performed one of two piano concertos by Chopin: nine competitors chose Piano Concerto in E minor, op. 11 and three chose Piano Concerto in F minor, op. 21. During the 15 days of the auditions for the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, the pianists presented nearly 2,000 interpretations of Chopin’s compositions in total. The number of applicants was record-breaking, too – as many as 500 pianists wanted to take part in that prestigious event.

The first edition of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition was organised in 1927 as an initiative by the Polish pianist, Professor Jerzy Żurawlew. Over the years, the jury of the Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competitions included outstanding Polish composers, such as Karol Szymanowski and Witold Lutosławski.