We are delighted to announce that the Scottish Polish Cultural Association has partnered with the Friends of Felix Yaniewicz to save Yaniewicz’s piano and bring it to Edinburgh…
Who was Yaniewicz you may ask?
Felix Yaniewicz (1762-1848) was a Polish-Lithuanian musician and composer born in Vilnus. He spent his early career years playing at the Polish Chapel Royal (for the king himself Stanislaw August Poniatowski!), then Vienna. However, due to the unsettled political situation he was then forced to live in exile and in 1815 he arrived in Edinburgh where he lived till the end of his life.
You will be able to hear more about Yaniewicz’s fascinating story during a talk by Josie Dixon (Yaniewicz’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter!) on Wednesday 7th of April at 7pm. Please pencil the date in and more details will follow.
About a year ago, Josie came across an advert from an auction for a square piano bearing the label Yaniewicz and Green. The piano has been restored to prime condition and is ready to be played again. Josie has then set up ‘The Friends of Felix Yaniewicz’ and is trying to gather funds through a crowdfunding campaign to purchase the piano and deliver it to Edinburgh to be placed in the Polish Ex-Combatants’ House on Drummond Place; following with an exhibition about Yaniewicz in the Georgian House museum, and a series of concerts in his memory planned for the second half of 2022.
We would like to kindly ask you to donate to this cause:
Click here to donate
Any help is greatly appreciated, and together we can make sure that the piano is given to the people of Edinburgh, and can be used for recitals again. Thank you for your contribution!
We will be posting regular updates on the project so keep an eye on our page!