FIDDLE and HARMONIES – melodies from Łowicz

Fiddle and harmonies – melodies from Łowicz with Jan Szymański
Led by Jan Szymański and Jeremi Kowalski
for intermediate

We invite you to a musical meeting with one of the last fiddlers of the older generation from the Łowicz region and an experienced wedding musician. The workshop will be primarily a time to learn melodies from his repertoire – the kujons or obereks of the Łowicz region on the fiddle as well as three-row harmonies or accordions, under the guidance of Jeremi Kowalski, a pupil and current member of Jan Szymański’s band.

Jan Szymański (born 1948) – the last fiddle master in the Łowicz region. A long-time member of AZPiT “Lipce Reymontowskie” and many other old bands that no longer exist. With the changing fashion to play at parties/ weddings he learned to play the clarinet and saxophone, he also regularly plays the baraban at all church ceremonies in his parish in Domaniewice. In 2023, he was honoured with the Oskar Kolberg Award for cultivating the musical traditions of the Łowicz region. During the 56th OFKiŚL in Kazimierz Dolny, he won the
“Baszta” in the solo instrumentalist category, awarded the Cross of Merit by the Ministry of Culture with a bronze and silver medal (2012 and 2022) and many other awards.

Jeremi Kowalski (born 2001) – harmonist, pupil of Sławomir Czekalski and Jan Szymański, with whom he forms the Jan Szymański Band from Albinów. Winner of many awards – laureate of the Old Tradition competition at the World Music Festival 2020, 2nd place at the 56th OFKiŚL in Kazimierz Dolny, first place at the review in Sieradz 2021 and in Warta 2023 and many others, 2024 awarded the Bronze Cross of Merit by the President of Poland. Together with Sławomir Czekalski, they are the last resident and still active harmonists in the Łowicz region.

The Jan Szymański Band – the origins of the band date back to the 1960s. On the initiative of Jan Szymański, it began its activities in 1964 playing dance parties, weddings and other celebrations taking place in the region of the Duchy of Łowicz. Over time, the members of the band have changed; its current line-up consists of Jeremi Kowalski, Tadeusz Baczyński and, for the past 60 years, Jan Szymański. The band plays traditional music from the region; its repertoire includes many obereks, kujons, kujawiaks and polkas, but it also enjoys playing more fashionable hits, such as foxtrots, waltzes and tangos.

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