Although the stage of the Festival Theatre is certain not to sag under the weight of the four pianos, the performance skills of the four Polish pianists playing them may well give the audience the feeling that the floorboards are buckling beneath them. Of the members of this quartet assembled for the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Jazz Juniors competition and festival, Leszek Możdżer, Paweł Kaczmarczyk and Piotr Orzechowski all got their start with this programme to launch the careers of Poland's finest jazz musicians, and all are... internationally recognised performers today. The latter is also true of Marcin Wasilewski, who, together with his trio, is signed with the legendary ECM Records label.
Leszek Możdżer enchants audiences around the world just as much with his solo piano concerts and chamber ensemble programmes as when he is accompanied by a symphony orchestra. Although his classical training made him a skilled interpreter of the works of Bach, Chopin and Lutosławski, it is really with his improvisations that he truly soars. The doors to the jazz world were opened for Marcin Wasilewski and his trio with the support of world-renowned trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. They are now considered among the most noteworthy representatives of piano trio jazz performance. Every new album put out by Paweł Kaczmarczyk's Audiofeeling Trio arouses great interest, as their uncategorisable music always makes journeys of discovery into the borderlands of other genres. Similar to him in this regard is Piotr Orzechowski, who emerged as a wunderkind before studying at the Berklee College of Music and winning the Montreux Jazz Piano Competition. He has an amazing way of revising the works of the most diverse classical composers and condensing them for solo piano.
On this evening, the four pianists will be venturing forth everywhere from Chopin to Krzysztof Komeda to Depeche Mode - with plenty of improvisation.

Commissioned by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music programme and POLSKA 100 - the international cultural program celebrating 100 years of Polish Independence. Financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland as part of the multi-annual programme NIEPODLEGŁA 2017-2021.

The official carrier of the program is LOT Polish Airlines.