Arts & Culture

The fact that 2025 million people participated so actively in the Chopin Competition testifies to the true integration of classical music into the mainstream of our lives and our values. Chopin himself would have been both moved and humbled by this.

"Goose is best on Saint Martin's Day," goes the folk saying. But where did this custom, which is returning to our tables today, come from?

For generations, the Polish community in the US has built its place through language, faith, and education—from powerful Milwaukee parishes to today's more modest Saturday schools, where successive generations continue to learn Polish letters, history, and identity. Initiatives like the revived John Paul II School are becoming the last bastion of Polishness, a space for encounter, community, and hope that tradition will survive in the hearts of the youngest.

The history of the Chopin Competition tells the story of the birth of a tradition that has survived wars, political turmoil, and technological revolutions, yet has lost none of its magic: it still has the ability to unite millions of listeners, evoke powerful emotions, and discover new talents.

On March 2, 1933, shortly after Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration, New York saw the premiere of "King Kong." Few would have guessed that the man who pilots the plane attacking the beast in the film's finale would return to uniform and play a role in two of the most challenging theaters of World War II: China and the Southwest Pacific.

Although Christianity has been alive in Poland since the end of the 10th century, old pagan traditions related to the commemoration of the dead continued to intertwine with the faith in the Risen Christ for a long time.

I feel connected to Chopin's Polishness and try to showcase it as fully as possible. The most important thing is not to lose the true Chopin," says Yehuda PROKOPOWICZ, a pianist from Krakow, one of four Poles who advanced to the second stage of the 19th Chopin Competition in Warsaw.

Being in the Tatra Mountains and not seeing Morskie Oko (Eye of the Sea)? Everyone knows this largest mountain lake in Poland. Although getting there requires a several-kilometer hike or a ride in the recently much-criticized horse-drawn carriages, there's probably no one who wouldn't want to see its vibrant colors and the breathtaking panorama of the High Tatras.

The qualifying rounds for the currently ongoing 19th Chopin Competition confirmed the growing popularity of Chopin's music worldwide. The fact that pianists who have won awards in other prestigious competitions entered the competition underscores the reputation of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition as the most important global event of its kind.

At the turn of August and September, farmers in Poland complete their grain harvest with a holiday known as the Harvest Festival. Over the centuries, the celebration's external features have changed, but its meaning remains constant. It is a thanksgiving for the harvest and a prayer for another successful year of work.

The year 2025 brings us another Pierogi Day celebration, this year falling on Wednesday, October 8th. This date, known internationally as National Pierogi Day, is a holiday dedicated to one of the most recognizable dishes from Polish tables.