The Chopin Society UK

The Chopin Society (London) was founded in 1971 by Lucie Swiatek to celebrate the genius of Fryderyk Chopin and increase the knowledge and appreciation of his music.

We present distinguished international artists and outstanding young performers in monthly recitals, which always include works by Chopin and often those of other composers. We also offer occasional talks and lecture-recitals by leading Chopin experts.

Several times a year members of the Society play for each other and their friends at Members' Matinees in private houses in London.

Find out more about the Society's history and how it has celebrated Chopin's anniversaries.

Prizes

The Society has given prizes for Chopin performances. It has twice awarded a prize for the best Chopin performance in the London International Piano Competition. In 1994, it went to Eugene Mursky and in 1997 to Cristiano Burato.

Fund-raising

The Chopin Society periodically uses its concerts to raise money for other charities and has raised more than £125,000 in this way for various causes. In 1991, we held a gala concert at Lambeth Palace, residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, to raise money for the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building at Oxford.

In 1993, there were two events to raise money for the restoration of the Broadwood piano used by Chopin for his London concerts in 1848: we held a Chopin festival at Hatchlands Park, as part of the Guildford International Music Festival, using period instruments from the Cobbe collection, and a gala concert at the House of Commons.

Our gala at Guildhall in London in 1998, with HRH Princess Alexandra as guest of honour, raised money for our piano appeal and Marie Curie Cancer Care. And a gala at Strawberry Hill in 2006, held with the World Monuments Fund, raised money for the restoration of Strawberry Hill, Horace Walpole's "Gothic castle", and for the Chopin Society's plans for the 2010 bicentenary.

A Wigmore Hall concert also in 1998 raised money for the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability, and a Midsummer Concert at Riverside House in 1999 contributed funds to the Polish Institute. Other charities that have benefited from Chopin Society concerts include Women's Health Concern, Cancer Research NW and St Luke's Hospice, Winsford.

In 2006 a gala was held at the Reform Club in Pall Mall to celebrate the 90th birthday of our Patron, the astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell, at which Imogen Cooper gave a recital. The same year and for the same reason we held a small concert series in Cheshire, inaugurated by Angela Hewitt and attended by the then Polish Ambassador, the late Dr Stanislaw Komorowski.

Malcuzynski's Steinway

As a result of our piano appeal, the Society was given a magnificent model B Steinway grand by the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Foundation of the United States. This piano had been chosen by the famous Polish pianist, Witold Malcuzynski. It carried his signature engraved on the frame by Bulgari and was played by him in the last years of his life.

Following restoration by Bob Glazebrook the piano was inaugurated in 1998 by Nicolai Demidenko in time for our celebrity series in 1999, when we also sponsored talks as part of the South Bank International Piano Series for the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death. Recently restored by Steinway & Sons, it is used for most of our concerts and has a particularly beautiful tone.

New venues

In 2007 the Society left its home of 33 years, the Polish Institute & Sikorski Museum and has since held concerts in St Paul’s Church Covent Garden (the Actors’ Church) and St Gabriel’s Warwick Square, where a successful summer festival was held in both 2008 and 2009.

Bicentenary celebrations

2010 was Chopin’s bicentenary year and to celebrate this the Chopin Society organised a concert series, In the Footsteps of Chopin, based around places where Chopin stayed or performed during his visit to London in 1848.

See the Anniversaries page for details of our bicentenary celebrations, including the Gala at Lancaster House, the Jacqueline du Pré Charity Concert at Wigmore Hall, and the Grand Concert Dinner and Ball at the Guildhall.