European Love Songs
Piotr Kajetan Matczuk
Polish Guitarist & Songwriter
Concert 1: Saturday, 17 May 2025, 3:15 pm
1207
E. Fruit St. Santa Ana CA 92701
Concert 2: Saturday, 17 May 2025, 6:15 pm
503 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291
European Love Songs
Since the
time of the Troubadours in medieval France, in the 12th century,
singing love songs for solo voice with accompaniment of a hand-held string
instrument is a time-honored European tradition. In all popular music, “love”
is the most frequently appearing theme!
In this concert, Polish guitarist and songwriter Piotr Kajetan Matczuk,
during his fourth American tour, will present some of the most beautiful poetic
ballads of the1960s and 1970s, performed to the accompaniment of the guitar.
The program will feature songs by Polish poets and songwriters, such as Adam Mickiewicz,
Wojciech Młynarski, Agnieszka Osiecka, as well as famous masters of the genre:
the legendary Bułat Okudzhava and Włodzimierz Wysock representing Russia, or Georges
Brassens and Jacques Brel representing France. The program will also feature Matczuk's
own compositions. “Love” in these songs is not limited to lyrical imagery, or
romantic affection, but also extends to care all humanity – respected, accepted, and admired.
Piotr Kajetan Matczuk
A Polish pianist, guitarist, arranger, songwriter. The leader and founder of the PIRAMIDY band. Author of theatre and film music. Artistic director of the International Song Festival "Szlakiem Bardów" in Poland. Matczuk has given concerts in many countries, including Poland, Great Britain, the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic. He appeared in many prestigious concert halls around the world, such as Columbiahalle in Berlin or the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in the Moscow Philharmonic. He has recorded several albums, recorded not only with the Piramidy band, but also with Polish actors. He composed the album "Dopokąd" for Krzysztof Tyniec and was the musical director of his band at the Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw. The album "Rok wojny" with his own lyrics premiered at the NATO Allied Joint Force Command military base in Brunssum for Polish soldiers commanding the mission in Afghanistan. He performed at the official celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the Fontanehaus in Berlin with his own piece "Charlie Checkpoint" and also at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the UN in Geneva. Matczuk composed music for several dozen documentaries and several theater performances. He is also a valued producer and audiobook maker. During his previous tours of the West Coast, he appeared in solo concerts in Los Angeles, Yorba Linda, San Diego, and Las Vegas. He also played his own music in a theatre play “Życiorys” (A Biography) about the life of poet Zbigniew Herbert written and staged by actor Wojciech Wysocki.
Established in 2008 in Los Angeles, Moonrise Press is a small press dedicated to publishing books of poetry and music with a focus on California and Poland. So far, the press issued ive anthologies of poetry (including We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology and Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy and Wisdom), fourteen volumes of poems by a single author, nine non-iction books on Polish culture and history, and three of four volumes of Collected Plays by Polish playwright Kazimierz Braun. In 2023, the publication of a 440-page, English-language book by dr. Maja Trochimczyk, Celebrating Modjeska in California: A History of Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club was supported by a grant from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland. Books are distributed by lulu.com, and are available on Amazon, etc.
