Dear Friends,

This year the whole Word celebrates the bicentenary birth anniversary of one of the greatest geniuses’ in the history of music – an exceptional composer and pianist - Fryderyk Chopin.
A Pole and a European, owing to his music – a Citizen of the World, he left to us all music compositions full of delicacy and emotions, of a structural and pianistic excellence, the works that occurred as a turning –point in a development of piano music.  His creation contain of both - an essence of the Romantic period in music and  the Polish character (provenance) – for which patriotic themes and national dances were the source of inspiration. His mazurkas, polonaises, etudes, nocturnes, ballades, piano concertos resound in concert halls on all the continents.
The works of Fryderyk Chopin have found a place in regular (constant) piano repertoires of the greatest maestros of the world, with many names of prize-winners of The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition among them.It is the oldest and one of the most prestigious performer’s competitions of the world which has taken place in Warsaw since 1927.
The whole musical world celebrates this Anniversary as a tribute to the Composer. As Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to India and President of the Celebration Committee Chopin 2010 India I am extremely happy for the fact that Indian institutions and persons, Embassies of France and Belgium as well as Alliance Française have joined so actively into organizing of events dedicated to this Anniversary in many of Indian cities.
I wish to sincerely thank them and to wish you all to have many captivating and emotional moments during the rich program of workshops, lecture-demonstrations,exhibitions, film screenings, ballet spectacles and – most of all – concert of Fryderyk Chopin’smusic that will be presented all over India.
In this given place and time, under the circumstances of the process of globalization ongoing in the contemporary world, it is really worth to underline what, in my opinion, is a live issue – Rabindranath Tagore’s thoughts on the unifying role of culture which he expressed in the following worlds: “ Music is such a universal language that it needs no translation. For in it Soul speaks to Soul.”  Let these words of Great Indian Intellectual be the motto for The Year of Chopin 2010 celebrations in India.

Prof. Piotr Klodkowski
Ambassador of the Republice of Poland to India