Modjeska Prizes for Danuta Stenka and Piotr Adamczyk - 26.4.2025 Beverly Hills

On Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 6:00 p.m., the Helena Modjeska Club invites you to the presentation of its annual H. Modjeska Prize for achievements in the field of acting. Danuta Stenka and Piotr Adamczyk are the current winners of the award granted for the year 2024, ex aequo. Unfortunately, Mrs. Stenka cannot come to receive the award in person and that presentation will take place in Poland in the fall. Now, however, we are honored that Mr. Piotr Adamczyk will personally receive the award in April.. During the ceremony, he will perform, together with Katarzyna Smiechowicz and other actors from California, in the presentation of the book "Chopin's Heart" by Jerzy Antczak, in the presence of the author. The ceremony will take place at the residence of Mrs and Mr Kolodziey, Beverly Hills and  is partly sponsored by the Polish Consulate in Los Angeles. 

Piotr Adamczyk – Recipient of the Helena Modrzejewska Award

“An artist should not seek easy applause. Their goal must be truth – the truth embodied by the character, and the truth that the audience is meant to discover within themselves.”

                                                      — Helena Modrzejewska

“My favorite word related to acting is authenticity. I want the viewer to believe in the character I play – to feel their emotions, follow their truth, and through that, reach their own truth. preferably – the uncomfortable one.”

                                                      — Piotr Adamczyk

Piotr Adamczyk is one of the most versatile and recognizable Polish actors of his generation. A graduate of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy in Warsaw and the British-American Drama Academy in London, he has successfully combined a career in theatre, film, radio, and voice acting with international film and television work. With impressive ease, he crosses linguistic and cultural borders – making him a spiritual heir to Helena Modrzejewska.

He gained international recognition for his portrayal of Karol Wojtyła in the international production Karol: A Man Who Became Pope. This role, grounded in authenticity and profound spirituality, reached an audience of over 800 million viewers worldwide. In Jerzy Antczak’s film Chopin: Desire for Love, he portrayed Fryderyk Chopin, revealing both the genius and the fragile, complex humanity of the composer. He is a recipient of numerous international awards granted by juries abroad, as well as multiple audience awards in Poland.

In recent years, Adamczyk has successfully expanded his career abroad, appearing in American series such as Hawkeye (Marvel), For All Mankind (Apple TV+), and Night Sky (Amazon Prime), becoming one of the few Polish actors with a recognizable presence in American productions. With the rise of premium series, he has created dramatically different characters in productions such as A Simple Case (Canal+), Klara (TVN Player), Lead the Way, Brother (Netflix), and most recently: Project UFO (Netflix).

For his overall artistic achievements, he has been awarded the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. He is especially proud of the “Little Sceptre” award, presented to him by Janusz Gajos.

Citation:

"Piotr Adamczyk receives the Helena Modrzejewska Award for his outstanding acting achievements, his ability to combine artistry with accessibility, and for transcending linguistic and cultural boundaries in the spirit of universal values. Just as Modrzejewska – an ambassador of Polish theatre around the world – brought Polish sensibility into international dialogue, so too does he. This award honors not only his body of work but also his consistency, passion, and artistic integrity."

Polish Piano Music- Radosław Sobczak & Chopin Academy Students, 4/6/2025

Steinway Piano from Wikimedia Commons.

The Modjeska Cub presents "Polish Piano Music" performed by an eminent pianist from Poland, Radosław Sobczak and Chopin Academy Students, from the school of Róża KostrzewsKa Yoder and Douglas Yoder. The concert is scheduled for Sunday, 6 April 2025, 4.00 pm, at the the Residence of the Chopin Academy Founders, in los Angees. 

Program

 PART I. Chopin Academy Students Play Polish Music

Featuring students of Róża Yoder and Douglas Yoder 

 

1. Jackson Wu 2. Felix Lu 3. Felicia Lu 4. Amelia Shirakian

5. Briella Zhu 6. Timmy Tian, 7. Adrien Ramos

8. Dominik Yoder 9. Kasper Yoder 10. Łukasz Yoder

 

PART II. Polish Piano Music – Radosław Sobczak

o   Tekla Bądarzewska (1823-1861) – Maiden's Prayer

o   Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) – Waltz

o   Moniuszko &Henry Melcer – Spinning Girl

o   Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1869-1941) – Minuet, Op.14 No.1

o   Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Nocturne, Op.16, No. 4

o   Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) – Mazurka, Op.50, No.1

o   Karol Szymanowski – Etude, Op.4, No. 3

o   Miłosz Magin (1929-1999) – Mazurka and Kujawiak

o   Roman Maciejewski (1910-1998) – Mazurka, Echo from the Tatra Mountains

o   Piotr Pietkiewicz (b.1966) – Bells from the Deep Monology

o   Marcin Łukaszewski (b.1973) – Transcendental Etude, No. 4, Winter

o   Paweł Łukaszewski (b.1968) – Nocturne, No. 1, Alsephia

o   Paweł Łukaszewski – Nocturne, No. 14, Pipirima

Radosław Sobczak

Radosław Sobczak was born in 1981 in Pisz, Poland, where he also began to learn to play the piano at the State Primary Music School in the class of Ewa Sulewska. Then, for five years, he continued his education at the Fryderyk Chopin Primary and Secondary State Music in Olsztyn under the direction of Ilona Dworecka-Staszewska. He obtained a diploma and baccalaureate at the Karol Szymanowski Music High School in Warsaw under Prof. Bronisława Kawalla in 2000. In 2006 he graduated from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw in the piano class of Prof. Edward Wolanin and in chamber music class of Prof. Maciej Paderewski.  He completed his studies with Prof. Victor Macarov. He is the laureate of the 2nd prize at the 1st European Piano Competition Halina Czerny – Stefańska in memoriam in Poznań (2008). He was recognized at the 14th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2000, receiving the title of The Best Pole of the Competition and a number of awards; among others, a Yamaha piano from the Foundation of Prof. Regina Smendzianka and a Crescendum Est Polonia Founda-tion scholarship.

         Mr. Sobczak performed in many Polish symphony concert halls and at numerous festivals –Chopin Festival Settimane Musicali Bresciane — Genio e Malinconia (Italy), Piano Festival in Kitzingen (Germany), Paderewski Days in New York, Festival of Polish Music in Gyor (Hungary), Polish Piano Festival in Słupsk, Chopin Festival in Antonin, Art Festival in Czarnolas, Beethoven Festival in Głogowek, Szymanowski Days in Zakopane, Kraków Piano Summer, and more. In 2002, he gave seven recitals in China at the invitation of the Shanghai Concert Hall. In 2003, he appeared in a concert for the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the occasion of Poland’s accession to the E.U. In December 2007, Sobczak participated in the New Year’s Eve gala at the Grand Theatre-National Opera in Warsaw. He is the first Polish pianist who performed in Muscat (Oman) at the invitation of the Polish Embassy in Saudi Arabia (2010). He also performed in Australia, France, Israel, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, & South Korea. 

         In 2013, Sobczak released a CD with three Beethoven sonatas, followed by The Spirit, an album with works recorded during recitals, both released by the Cultura Animi Foundation. In June 2018, the DUX record label issued two monographic CDs with the music of Ignacy Paderewski and Karol Szymanowski. In the same year, he recorded a world premiere of Piano Etudes by Marcin Tadeusz Łukaszewski. In 2018, the Senate of the Republic of Poland, in cooperation with the Polish Radio, included his recording of Paderewski’s Piano Sonata in its project celebrating 100 years of Poland’s regaining its independence.

He was twice nominated for best Polish “Classical Music Award - Fryderyk” for his CDs –Paderewski (2019) and Łukaszewski (2020). During 2018-2021 years He released audio-video recording project – Music Mystery by composer Peter Pietkiewicz. In 2023 he performed in front of South Korean President Mr. Yoon Suk-Yeul and first Lady during their official visit in Poland. In 2023 he recorded both Chopin's piano concertos with new orchestra arrangements for single woodwind parts, with Podlasie Chamber Orchestra (DUX label). In 2024, as a first Polish pianist, Sobczak recorded all twelve Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt (DUX label). In 2010-2012, he served as a professor at the Keimyung-Chopin University in Daegu, South Korea. In 2010 – 2018, he was a lecturer at the Fryderyk Chopin University in Warsaw and  since 2012, a teacher of a piano class at the Szymanowski State Music School Complex No. 4 in Warsaw. From 2018 he has cooperated with the Chengdu Extraordinary Music Company. In 2024, he started a cooperation with the IMC- Japan Music Company.