Dear Guests,

It is with sincere pleasure that I wel-come you at the concert during which you would not only have the opportu-

nity to listen to some marvelous, jazzy ver-sion of Chopin’s music performed by Eljazz Big Band, but also to learn something about Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region.

I assure you that this beautiful part of Po-land is well worth visiting as Frederic Cho-pin discovered it himself when he spent here his holidays as a child. Chopin had strong links with our region as his mother, Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska, was born in Kujawy. Moreover his childhood sweetheart, Maria Wodzińska, to whom he dedicated the Waltz in A-flat major, op. 69, no. 1, also comes from this part of Poland. Although the romance did not withstand the test of time, he must have always had fond memories of our region, as his music is very much influenced by the folk music of Kujawsko-Pomorskie.

But Kujawsko-Pomorskie is not only about nature and culture. Since the day of Polish accession to the European Union, the region has made a tremendous economic progress as well. Hopefully, this trend would continue on even greater scale and that is why we support the consolidation of our two biggest cities, Bydgo-szcz and Toruń, into one metropolitan area of European importance. It is a unique project in that part of Europe that would give our region even greater boost for development.

Our highest ambition is to create excellent conditions for economic progress. We spend every fourth zloty from our Regional Operational Programme to sup-port such undertakings. The result of this strategy is, amongst others, the more frequent investments in our region by foreign enterprises. More than 192 thousand economic entities with 1,697 of foreign capital, are active in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region. We would like to encourage this trend and using international language of music, invite you to visit our region, and — who knows — maybe even start your business venture?

I hope that you would enjoy the concert and in the nearest future visit Kujaw-sko-Pomorskie Region, once the Chopin’s favorite part of the world.

Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region

Eljazz Big Band

Eljazz Big Band was established in May 1999 by a  band leader and jazz drummer Józef Eliasz. The orchestra is the laureate of countrywide and international awards. It has taken part in many prestigious concerts and

festivals, such as Probaltica in Toruń, Bydgoszcz Jazz Festiwal, Pomeranian Jazz Autumn, European Jazz Meetings, and XXXI Old Jazz Meeting Złota Tarka.

The orchestra played a series of concerts in Royal Łazienki and Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, Pomeranian Philharmonic or Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz. Eljazz Big Band cooperates with many worldwide known jazz musicians like Jan “Ptaszyn” Wróblewski, Krzysztof Herdzin, Lora Szafran, Janusz Szrom, Henryk Miśkiewicz, Maciej Sikała, and Adam Wendt.

For eleven years the orchestra has been playing every Thursday in Eljazz, their mother-club located in Bydgoszcz. Eljazz Big Band recorded their album Memo-ries with the poetic songs of the twenties and thirties of the 20th century sang by an excellent jazz singer Lora Szafran. The album received splendid reviews from critics and fans. The orchestra presented this compositions frequently in Poland and other countries.

The latest project In the Rhythm of Chopin is the most significant and para-mount orchestra’s artistic achievement in which great Polish arrangers and soloists take part. Frederic Chopin’s works arranged for big band and sym-

phony orchestra celebrate artistry and beauty of this great composer in an unique, innovative way.

Charlemagne Orchestra for Europe

Under the baton of Founding Music Director, Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde, the Charlemagne Orchestra for Europe plays 16th year, being a successful model of multiculturalism: the musicians come from around

30 different countries. They offer provocative and less-known works from the Clas-sical, Romantic and Contemporary orchestral repertoire. The orchestra regularly plays at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and in Belgium, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands. The orchestra has found a home at the Flagey Studio, from which it asserts its international dimension year after year.

Charlemagne Orchestra for Europe has recorded the Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings, Shostakovich’s Kammersinfonie, and violin and piano concerts of Mendelssohn with their concertmaster, Katchatour Almazian, and with pianist Martin Cousin on the Sonoris label. Their discography consists of 7 CDs and a DVD with live recordings.

The Belgian maestro, Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde, is the crea-tor, the initiator, the inspirer, the musical director, and the conductor of the Charlemagne Orchestra for Europe. He has led the orchestra in acclaimed

performances throughout Brussels, Luxembourg and The Netherlands in venues including the “Palais des Beaux-Arts” and the “Théâtre de la Monnaie” in Brussels, as well as the “Concertgebouw” in Amsterdam. Furthermore, the Charlemagne Orchestra was in residence in the 2008 Intermezzo Opera Festival at Bruges, where Maestro Van de Velde led performances of Die Zauberflöte, the opening Gala Con-cert and the Final Concerts of the Elardo International Opera Competition.

Programme of the concert “In the rhythm of jazz… Kujawsko-Pomorskie remembers Chopin”Wednesday, 10 October 2012 at 8 p.m. in Flagey in Brussels

Eljazz Big Band, Polando Prelude in E minor — arr. Jan “Ptaszyn” Wróblewskio Waltz in A minor, op. 34, no. 2 — arr. Henryk Miśkiewiczo Etude in E major, op. 10, no. 3 — arr. Krzysztof Herdzino Prelude in C minor — arr. Henryk Miśkiewiczo Mazurka in D major, op. 33, no. 2 — arr. Krzysztof Herdzino Scherzo in B minor — arr. Jan “Ptaszyn” Wróblewskio Waltz in H minor, op. 69, no. 2 — arr. Krzysztof Herdzin

Eljazz Big Band and Charlemagne Orchestra for EuropeConductor Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde

o Nokturne in E-flat major, op. 9, no. 1 — arr. Bogdan Ciesielski o Etude in A minor, op. 25, no. 11 — arr. Jan Walczyński o Waltz in C-sharp minor, op. 64, no. 2 — arr. Bogdan Ciesielski

Information Office of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie RegionAvenue de Tervueren 84, 1040 Brussels · phone +32 2 734 12 17

e-mail brussels@kujawsko-pomorskie.pl · www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl

The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the Regional Operational Programmefor Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship for the years 2007–2013 and the budget of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship