Welcome to Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club
HELENA MODJESKA FESTIVAL 2025
DAY 1: OPENING NIGHT GALA
Saturday, December 6, 2025
4:30–11:00PM
Writers Guild of America West
135 S. Doheny Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 90211
DAY 2: SCREENINGS
Sunday, December 7, 2025
3:30–10:00PM
The Crescent Theater
100 N. Crescent Dr. Beverly Hills, CA 9021
RSVP: eventsmodjeska@gmail.com
Marek Kamiński - polar explorer and promoter of mental resilience
Marek Kamiński is a globally renowned explorer, entrepreneur, and social innovator, celebrated as the first person to reach both the North and South Poles in a single year without external support. This extraordinary achievement, recognized by the Guinness World Records, shaped his understanding of resilience—not merely as physical endurance but as a mental strength that can be cultivated to overcome life’s challenges. During his expeditions, Marek realized that “it’s not the legs that conquer the poles, but the mind.” This profound insight inspired him to dedicate his life to promoting mental resilience as a cornerstone of prevention in mental health and as a foundation for individual and societal well-being. As the founder of the Marek Kamiński Foundation and the Kamiński Academy, he has pioneered transformative programs such as Life Plan Academy, which equips young people with tools to build mental resilience, overcome adversity, and develop leadership skills. His foundation focuses on prevention by supporting children and youth from underserved communities and those at risk of mental health challenges. Marek’s work aligns closely with advancing social resilience and the United Nations; 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. His initiatives demonstrate how fostering resilience, particularly as a form of prevention, can drive inclusive growth, enhance mental health, and strengthen societies in an era defined by frequent and complex crises. His unwavering commitment to these principles makes him a valuable contributor to discussions on social policies designed to leave no one behind.
Concert "Timeless Dialogues"
The last artistic event of the season will take place on Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 6:30 pm in Santa Monica.
Chamber Music Concert “Timeless Dialogues” featuring works by the following composers: Bach · Mozart · Chopin · Liszt · Brahms - Wieniawski · Debussy · Rachmaninoff · Ysaÿe · Bacewicz · Prokofiev.
Performed by: Dominik Yoder - piano; and Paulina Tomczuk - violin.
Free admission. We encourage you to come and admire the talents of these wonderful musicians, winners of many awards.
PROGRAM
I. Solo Violin
J.S. Bach – Andante and Allegro from Sonata for Solo Violin No. 2, BWV 1003
Eugène Ysaÿe – Sonata for Solo Violin No. 5, Op. 27 – I. L’Aurore
Grażyna Bacewicz – Caprice No. 2
II. Solo Piano
F. Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor
F. Chopin – Nocturne Op. 62 No. 1 in B major
S. Rachmaninoff – Étude-Tableau Op. 39 No. 6 in A minor
III. Duet Violin and Piano
C. Debussy – Beau Soir
J. Brahms – Scherzo from the F-A-E Sonata
S. Rachmaninoff – Vocalise
W.A. Mozart – Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat major, K. 302
H. Wieniawski – Romance from Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 22
Details
Concert "Timeless Dialogues"
When: Tuesday, May 20, 2025 at 6:30 p.m
Where: Santa Monica at the Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium of Santa Monica Public Library, address: 601 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Free Admission.
Paulina Tomczuk
Paulina Tomczuk comes from Zielona Góra, where she began her music education in 2009 at the Mieczysław Karłowicz State Music School of the 1st and 2nd degree in Zielona Góra, studying violin under Anna Tułasiewicz-Jęczała. In 2018, she continued her musical education in Warsaw at the State Music School Complex No. 1, in the violin class of Katarzyna Duda. In 2021, she began her Bachelor’s studies at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw under Professor Agata Szymczewska, graduating with distinction in 2024. Currently, the violinist is pursuing her Master’s degree at two institutions simultaneously: continuing her studies with Agata Szymczewska in Warsaw, and studying at Hochschule der Künste Bern in Switzerland under Professor Bartłomiej Nizioł.
Over the years, she has honed her skills by participating in numerous music masterclasses with distinguished professors such as Alexander Sitkovetsky, Krzysztof Węgrzyn, Daniel Stabrawa, Marcin Zdunik, Bartłomiej Nizioł, Tomasz Tomaszewski, Agata Szymczewska, Wiesław Kwaśny, Sławomir Tomasik, Janusz Wawrowski, Adam Korniszewski, Włodzimierz Promiński, among many others. Paulina is a laureate of over 70 international and national competitions.
Her most significant recent accomplishments include: the 4th Prize at the 6th Wanda Wiłkomirska International Polish Music Violin Competition in Częstochowa (Poland, 2024), the 1st Prize at the 1st Miniature Competition in Warsaw (Poland, 2022), the 3rd Prize at the 4th Wanda Wiłkomirska Polish Music Violin Competition in Częstochowa (Poland, 2022), the 1st Prize at the Kyoto International Music Competition (Japan, 2021), the Grand Prix at the 2nd Wiłkomirski National Chamber Music Competition in Łódź (Poland, 2021), 1st Prize at the ISCART International Music Competition (Switzerland, 2021), a distinction at the International Radio Competition for Young Musicians "Concertino Praga" (the Czech Republic, 2021),
Special Prize for the performance of a contemporary work funded by the Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Foundation (the Czech Republic, 2021), 1st Prize at the National Competition of the Center for Artistic Education for Chamber Ensembles in Toruń (Poland, 2021), 2nd Prize at the North International Music Competition (Sweden, 2020), 3rd Prize at the 8th International Janina Garść Competition in Stalowa Wola (Poland, 2018), and 2nd Prize at the 2nd "Nałęczów and the Violin" International Competition in Nałęczów (Poland, 2017).
Her talent has been recognized through numerous scholarships, including the Lyra Stiftung Scholarship (2024), the Artistic Scholarship of the Minister of Culture (2021), the Scholarship of the Mayor of Zielona Góra (2019-2022), the Scholarship of the Marshal of the Lubusz Voivodeship (2015-2018), the prestigious „Młoda Polska" Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (2016), the “Eurydyki” Cultural Award from the Zielona Góra Cultural Center (2015), and a scholarship from the National Children’s Fund (2011-2015).
Paulina Tomczuk regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician. Over the years, she has appeared in numerous concerts and recitals at venues such as the Yehudi Menuhin Forum Bern and the ARTIn Foundation Solidarity Concert (Switzerland), the International Holland Music Session (the Netherlands), the ARS NOVA Association (France), the Association of E. Stein (Germany), Concertino Praga and the Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Fund (the Czech Republic), The Afyonkarahisar Festival (Turkey), as well as many prestigious locations throughout Poland, including the Warsaw Music Society of Stanisław Moniuszko, the University of Warsaw, the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, the PRO MUSICA Association in Zielona Góra, the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice, the Fryderyk Chopin Music Institute in Warsaw, the Piła Festival, and the Łazienki Królewskie in Warsaw.
Between 2013 and 2014, she participated in the Lusławice Orchestra of Talents, launched at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice and then still under the care of Penderecki himself. Their collaboration resulted in numerous concerts conducted by renowned conductors and soloists, as well as the recording of an album featuring contemporary Polish music. This project later evolved into the Penderecki Youth Orchestra, of which Paulina Tomczuk became a member.
Dominik Yoder
Dominik Yoder Dominik directed unusual passion and determination toward music from a very young age, beginning piano studies at the age of two on his own initiative. His playing has been described as “authoritative and lyrical, a powerful technique spiced with an impish sense of humor.”
He received Second Prize in the 2025 Hartford International Chopin Competition, Fourth Prize in the 2025 Fujairah International Piano Competition, Second Prize in the 2024 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the Gold Medal in the 2018 Kosciuszko Foundation Competition for Young Pianists in Washington, D.C., and the Grand Prize in the 2018 Redlands Competition, thanks to which he performed with orchestra. He has been awarded First Prize in more than a dozen local, regional, and state competitions. In 2022, Dominik received the Wybitny Polak (“Outstanding Pole”) award from the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles.
Dominik has performed in Żelazowa Wola (the birthplace of Frederic Chopin) and elsewhere in Poland, Puerto Rico, Germany, and the United States in solo recital, and he has performed with the Culver City Symphony Orchestra, the Brentwood Symphony Orchestra, the Southwest Youth Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, and the Hollywood Orchestra for Redlands Bowl. He has performed on Polish television and radio, and he has participated in master classes with Natalia Troull, Dina Joffe, Eteri Andjaparidze, Edward Wolanin, Alexander Korsantia, Boris Berman, Dmitry Rachmanov, Wojciech Kocjan, Jura Margolis, and Antoinette Perry. He studies piano with Róża Kostrzewska Yoder.
"He is a truly exceptional pianist and artist. He combines the qualities of imaginative individual expression with great technical diligence. If he chooses piano as his activity, even in the current extremely competitive world context, he has a genuine chance of success."
ADAM WIBROWSKI - Professor emeritus Conservatoire de Paris
"Dominik is ready for our Chopin Competition. Up for a high place in the finals! He is already doing recitals, so this is a professional and a very talented, technically wonderful pianist! He enchanted me, drew me into his world of sounds. Bravo, bravissimo! I wish him to be favored by what is most important to an artist: luck. Highly recommended!"
EWA SOLINSKA - journalist, music reviewer
Modjeska Prizes 2024
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 Śmiechowicz 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 and the Polish Center in Los Angeles. In addition, Moonrise Press, Hotel "Zamek Ryn" and Mrs. and Mrs. Golema are among the event's sponsors. Chris Justin and the Board serve as volunteers.
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.
“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.”
—Katarzyna Śmiechowicz
Danuta Stenka
Danuta Stenka (b. 10 October 1961 in Sierakowice, Poland) is a Polish actress. She made her stage debut in 1984 and since then acted in many productions receiving theatre awards for her performances. She made her big screen debut in 1995 and appeared in more than 60 films since then. Stenka received two Polish Film Awards for her roles in Jerzy Antczak’s Chopin: Desire for Love (2002) and Andrzej Wajda’s Katyń (2007). From 1991, she spent a decade working at Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw, then at TR Warszawa. She earned critical acclaim for her distinguished roles in plays directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski's (Electra, The Taming of the Shrew, Krum, Angels in America and (A)pollonia). In 2003, she joined the ensemble of the National Theatre in Warsaw, taking on roles with many renowned directors, including Robert Wilson (Lady from the Sea), Grzegorz Jarzyna (Giovanni), Maja Kleczewska (Phaedra, Marat/Sade, Oresteia) and Jan Englert (King Lear). She played in many films and TV series and won over 30 awards for her theatre and film work, including the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture‚ Gloria Artis, from the Polish Ministry of Culture.
Jerzy Antczak
Jerzy Antczak (born 25 December 1929 in Włodzimierz) is a Polish television, theatre and film director and actor. He graduated from the Leon Schiller Academy of Dramatic Art in Łódź in 1953.He made his debut as an actor on the stage of the Powszechny Theatre in Łódź; later he also directed, and from the end of the 1950s he was active only as a director. In 1957 he was the director of the "715" theatre in Łódź, in 1959 the chief director of the Łódź Television Centre, and from 1963 the chief director of the Warsaw Television Centre. In the years 1963–1975 he was the chief director of the Television Theatre. He personally directed J. Słowacki's m.in. Kordian, Chekhov's Three Sisters, T. Williams' The Glass Menagerie; also important performances of the Theatre of Fact (Nuremberg Epilogue). In 1977, his film Nights and Days was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Since 1979 he has lived in the USA, where he is a lecturer (with the title of professor) at the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles, at the Department of Film and Television. In the early 1990s, he made two films in Poland: The Lady of the Camellias and Chopin. Desire for Love. He directed two TV theatre performances: Caesar and Pompey and Paths of Glory. On September 14, 2013, he received the Platinum Lions for lifetime achievement at the 38. Gdynia Film Festival. From 1956 until the death of his wife in 2024, he was married to actress Jadwiga Barańska, with whom he has a son, Mikołaj (born 1964).
Antczak has been a Honorary Member of the Modjeska Club for many years and in 2024 received the Club’s first Golden Award for lifetime achievement as film and theater director. Among the multitude of his honors are: Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; Knight's Cross of the Order of Artis Polonia Restituta; and Gold Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis.
Major and the Orange Alternative - at the Vienna Woods
Helena Modjeska Club invites its members and friends to an original event entitled "Major and the Orange Alternative" at the Vienna Woods Gallery. The guest of honor will be Waldemar "Major" Fydrych, an artist, surrealist and famous anti-communist activist, creator of the Orange Alternative movement. The program includes an interview, a documentary, a conversation with the artist and orange hats for the first 50 guests.
Waldemar "Major" Fydrych
Painter, writer, happener. Waldemar "Major" Fydrych was born on April 8, 1953 in Toruń. He holds a master's degree in history (1980) and art history (1987) from the University of Wrocław. In 2012, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, he defended his doctoral thesis entitled. "Happening as an integrative, healing operation transforming art and reality" under the supervision of Prof. Stanisław Wieczorek.
Valentine's Day Ball
Valentine's Day Ball - the fundraiser for Polish school in los Angeles, on 8 February 2025 at the Polish church on Adams Blvd. During the event, the Club will present Tomasz Sobania who will conclude his run across the U.S. on 26 January 2025 in Santa Monica.
Tomasz Sobania at the finish of his Run Across the US
Tomasz Sobania, a Polish ultramarathoner and motivational speaker, is in the midst of a unique run across the United States. He started on September 15 in New York and has already completed 2/3 of the entire route. On February 2, 2025, after covering 5,200 kilometers in 140 days by running, he will reach Santa Monica, California, where he will finish his remarkable expedition.
This will be a truly exceptional feat for a Polish athlete. However, this is not just an athletic challenge - Sobania's goal is to inspire others to action. That's why he's running across the US with the slogan “You can do more than you ever thought possible” on his T-shirt, making media appearances and holding community meetings to talk about his experiences and encourage action. His trip also provided an opportunity for an American film crew to create a documentary to show the diversity and spirit of the United States in 2024 from the East Coast to the West Coast.
More information about the run and the campaign can be found on Thomas Sobania's official social media profiles.
Details
Valentine's Day Ball
When: 8 February 2025
Where: Polish church on Adams Blvd
Tickets: 120$
What is beauty? Presentation by Adrian Krupa
The first event of The Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club in 2025 will feature Dr Adrian Krupa, philosopher from Poland in a lecture "What is beauty? Philosophical lecture on art".
What is Beauty?
The question of beauty has accompanied philosophy since its ancient sources. During the lecture, aesthetics will be presented as a branch of philosophy that reflects on beauty. Philosophers constantly argue about beauty - some consider it a subjective experience, while others argue for its objectivity. For example, the Pythagoreans understood beauty as harmony expressed in numerical proportions, which they found both in music and in the structures of the cosmos. The Pythagorean concept of beauty will be discussed in relation to classical works of art that realize such an ideal. Then, subjective concepts of beauty will be presented, which recognize that it lies in the eye of the beholder. Modern aesthetics in particular sought beauty in the experiences and emotions of the recipient (David Hume).