Poland recognizes projects of Turkey

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Polish Culture Ministry has recognized three Turkish projects for their collaboration to acknowledge the work of Polish composer Frederic Chopin.

The projects, which were honored during an award ceremony yesterday in Istanbul, are the Istanbul 2010 Chopin Piano Week, which was organized by Mehmet Mestçi and the Artisan gallery and sponsored by the 2010 Istanbul Culture Agency, Evin İlyasoğlu’s Albert Long Hall Chopin concerts, as well as Aydın Büke’s biography of Chopin.

Declared by the Poland as the year of Frederic Chopin, 2010 was filled with celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The anniversary was celebrated with a series of concerts, educational projects, exhibitions in Poland and elsewhere, as well as revitalization projects of places relating to the composer.

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849) was one of the greatest artists in the history of Polish culture, the most distinguished Polish composer, and a leading pianist and representative of the music of the Romantic period in the world. He is sometimes called a “poet of the piano.”

Lying at the source of Chopin’s work is great artistic sensitivity and the ability to draw on the patterns of Polish folk music. The composer is considered to have played an exceptional role in shaping Polish national identity.

 Although his works are among the most performed, Chopin’s pieces require pianists to possess excellent technique and virtuosity