A Calendar of Events letting you know what, where and when is happening throughout the Chopin Year:
- Events: concerts, exhibitions, shows and many others
- Reports
- Interviews
- Kordegarda CHOPIN 2010
The Chopin Centre is located at 43 Tamka Street in Warsaw, it faces the Ostrogski Castle with the grand scale Fryderyk Chopin Museum. It is a modern Chopin information centre, a place fulfilling the expectations and needs of both those dealing with music on professional basis and those who are drawn to this discipline only out of personal interest: music-lovers, tourists tracing Chopin’s paths and the youngest ones standing just at the threshold of their aware participation in cultural life.
Apart from the information point combined with a café, the Centre hosts a bookstore, library, sound library and the sound library of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. It is also the seat of the Institute itself, as well as of the Fryderyk Chopin Society, the International Federation of Chopin Societies, the Polish Music Council and the Foundation for the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin.
The building's modern form stands in nice contrast to the elegant silhouette of the Ostrogski Castle, a familiar landmark for all Warsaw residents, and complements in a well thought out manner the architectural structure of Tamka Street. It is an excellent proof that things which are very modern can be successfully integrated into already developed space not only without destroying its tradition, but also adding a new, interesting dimension to it. The Powiśle area gained a very valuable space dedicated specifically to the Polish music genius, as the perspective between the Centre and the Castle is closed by… the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music.
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute acquired the property at 43 Tamka Street in 2004. In 2005, the Union of Polish Architects organized an international competition for an architectural design of the Chopin Centre. The Stelmach i Partnerzy architectural office from the Polish city of Lublin won the competition. The subsequent one and a half years were taken up by seeking the building permission, resolving disputes with the residents of nearby buildings who opposed the investment and organising tenders for the substitute investor and the general contractor, which were eventually won by Polimex-Mostostal S.A. The construction works started in May 2007.In September 2008, the structure of the whole building was completed; on 24 October a topping out ceremony took place to mark the end of the construction works.