An exceptional festival, “Chopin in classical and modern way”, will take place from October 13th to October 17th in Warsaw. Chopin's works will be performed on various instruments and in various arrangements by blind musicians. The festival will be combined with consultations and exchange of experience. The final concert, organized also to celebrate the Polish Association of the Blind's 60th Anniversary, will be held in the National Philharmony on October 16th. Blind musicians from Poland, Czech Republic, France, Portugal, Lithuania and Georgia will perform.
Last year, in commemoration of Frederic Chopin's birth bicentenary, the Polish Association of the Blind, in partnership with the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (Norges Blindeforbund) and the Frederic Chopin Society, set up the project “Chopin for the Blind”. Its direct objective is to render Frederic Chopin's achievements accessible to the blind and partially sighted. As a broader objective, it is aimed to provide products that will serve the next generations of visually impaired persons.
Various activities are carried out within the project, for instance:
- Publication of selected Chopin's works in Braille music notation and large print;
- Publication of selected Chopin's letters in Braille and Daisy format;
- Preparation and recording of the Polish and English audio description to the film “Chopin, Desire for love”;
- Publication of Edwin Kowalik's biography (deceased blind pianist, laureate of the International Frederic Chopin Competition) in large print and Daisy format.
“Chopin for the Blind” is co-financed with resources from the Cultural Exchange Fund within the framework of the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The Fund Operator is the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
More information about the project can be found at: http://www.pzn.org.pl/chopin/