Detailed Lineup of the 2026 Paderewski Festival
Polish music takes pride of place at the annual Paderewski Festival on California’s Central Coast. The 2026 lineup of solo, chamber and symphonic concerts, wine tastings, exhibits and a film screening will take place November 6-8 in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. This year’s edition is held under the Honorary Patronage of His Excellency Ambassador Bogdan Klich and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the United States.
Cracow Duo (left) and Grace Seng (right)
The opening concert, on Friday, November 6 (Paderewski’s 166th birthday), will feature the cello and piano virtuosos Jan Kalinowski and Marek Szlezer (known as the Cracow Duo) and guest artist violinist Grace Seng, in a program of cello and piano works by Zygmunt Stojowski, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Ludomir Różycki. This evening of music at the historic Park Ballroom in Paso’s charming downtown will close with the magnificent Piano Trio No. 1 in B major by Johannes Brahms, with Ms. Seng joining the Cracow Duo. This concert is sponsored by the Festival’s 2026 generous venue and wine tasting partners, the Park Ballroom and Epoch Estate Wines, with artist and visa sponsorship from Law Estate Wines and the Polish Cultural Institute – New York.
The next concert, also being held in Park Ballroom, promises to be just as exciting. Winners of the annual Youth Piano Competition will be heard at a 3 p.m. recital on Saturday, November 7, in a program of music by Bach, Chopin, Ligeti, Paderewski and Rachmaninov. The Junior Category winners include Ezra Alamilla (11), Luke Taylor Hassan (10), and Chloe Silva (12). The Senior Category winners are Noelle Hadsall (17), Daniel Lien (15) and Ethan Ma (15). This concert is sponsored by the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education and Libretto Paso.
Hyunjin Roh
The Festival Gala Concert takes place on November 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center/Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and it represents a collaboration with another important Central Coast arts institution, the San Luis Obispo Symphony. Maestro Andrew Sewell will lead the orchestra in a program called Keys of Grandeur that will open with a vigorous Mazurka from the opera Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko. Next, Hyunjin Roh—First Place winner at the 2025 Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland—will perform Beethoven’s majestic Emperor Piano Concerto, and the program will close with Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique.” Another partner for this concert is Epoch Estate Wines—Paso’s winery most closely linked to Paderewski—who have long served as the annual Festival Gala Concert Sponsor.
In addition to concerts, the Festival also invites all its attendees to a piano master class with Hyunjin Roh on Friday, November 6 at 4 p.m. at the Davidson Music Center, Room 218 at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. There will also be a wreath-laying ceremony on Saturday, November 7 at 2:00 p.m. at the Paderewski monument at the center of the Paso Robles City Park.
Another fascinating (and free!) attraction is the matinee film screening at Park Cinemas, 1100 Pine Street in downtown Paso Robles, scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 7. The 2025 documentary, Poland—A Musical Self-Portrait, directed by Magdalena Zięba-Schwind, provides a rich look filled with insights on the music scene in Poland today.
The 2026 Paderewski Festival will close with yet another extraordinary musical offering. Two young virtuoso pianists from Chopin’s and Paderewski’s homeland, guests of the Festival’s Cultural Exchange Program, will be heard in recital of works by Barber, Chopin, Liszt, MacDowell and Paderewski at Park Ballroom on Sunday, November 8 at 11 a.m. This free and open to the public event links Poland and Paso, two places in the world where Paderewski’s legacy continues to inspire successive generations of musicians from all around the world and their admiring public. This special concert is supported by Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Other generous 2026 Paderewski Festival sponsors include: the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles, Cass Winery, POLAM Federal Credit Union, Polish American Congress of Southern California, Polish Center in L.A., Travel Paso, and the USC Polish Music Center.
For more information and tickets, visit PaderewskiFest.com.
SOURCE: https://polishmusic.usc.edu
