"The Polish-Hungarian Crown of the Carpathians" – musical memories of Csaba Gy. Kiss

This year, we have bid farewell to many wonderful Poles and Hungarians. However, the loss of Csaba Gy. Kiss is particularly painful for both our nations. That is why, on 28 November, a joint musical tribute dedicated to him, entitled ‘The Polish-Hungarian Crown of the Carpathians’, will be held in Budapest. This event is also a continuation of Kiss’s work for Polish-Hungarian friendship. The melodies of Polish folk music from the northern Carpathians and Moldavian Csángó music – Hungarian from the south-eastern Carpathians – will resound.

Polish-Hungarian commemorative programme

Welcoming guests: Polish fudge, Hungarian pálinka, church music from Taizé.
Short commemoration of Csaba Gy. Kiss.
Concert of traditional folk music: Paweł Iwan and Kapela Ozimkowicza from Jarosław
Konrad Ozimek – violin, Paweł Iwan – cymbals, vocals, Anna Iwan – cello, vocals, Michał Biel – percussion.
Discussion on Central European cooperation, based on the writings of Csaba Gy. Kiss.
Dance animations led by Joanna Mieszkowicz.
Polish dance lessons.
The event will be accompanied by a traditional buffet
The Szépszerével band will provide the musical accompaniment for the discussion and Moldavian dances in the Csángó circle: Gyulai Farkas – violin, Sámsondi Kiss Gergely – koboz

Organisers: Catholic Association for Community Development Háló and the Szépszerével band.
Sponsor: Wacław Felczak Foundation

The event will take place on Friday, 28 November 2025, at 6 p.m. at the Háló Club, Budapest V, Semmelweis utca 4. (near Astoria).

Who are our artists?

Joanna Mieszkowicz has been a dance enthusiast and teacher of traditional dances, especially Czango and Polish dances, for several decades. She is warm-hearted, patient and empathetic. Under her guidance, even the ‘impossible’ becomes extremely easy. In addition, she is an animator and promoter of both cultures, as well as a social and environmental innovator.
In 2008, she organised her first czango dance house in Krakow with the participation of Hungarian artists. Since 2019, she has been developing activities to popularise dances in the czango circle, including as part of the Czango Festival in Poland and during czangotek events. And what does she say about herself?

My mission is to bring people together and open them up to each other. But it is also important to deepen relationships with oneself and one’s surroundings. I think that these two things cannot be achieved without a good knowledge of disappearing cultures and universal values, such as caring for the well-being of nature, of which humans are a part. By education and by heart, I am an environmentalist. I love contact with nature, especially forests, mountains and lakes. That is why I am a co-founder of the Aeris Futuro Foundation, where I combine eco and ethno issues.

The members of the Ozimkowicz Band come from the Przemyśl area. That is why they focus on the music, songs and dances of their homeland and the Dynów lowlands. They draw on rural music, primarily that of Władysław Piróg and Wojciech Pilch from Słonne, as well as the Bagolyzenekar band from Piątkowa. They also often play melodies from further afield: from eastern Poland and western Ukraine, including violin music from the Rzeszów region, following the example of Jan Marek. They say about themselves:

In accordance with ancient rural customs, we primarily play dance music, performing melodies long enough for dancers to dance with their hearts. We are no strangers to playing all night long until the last dancer remains on their feet.

The musicians are also members of other bands – Hajda Banda, Traszno, C.K. Kapela, Kapela Brodów – with which they have won awards at competitions such as Stara i Nowa Tradycja (Old and New Tradition), the St. Nicholas Folk Musicians Competition and the True Musicians Competition. They organise festival clubs with traditional dances, including the medieval festival Song of Our Roots in Jarosław and, previously, the Galicia Gnojnica festival.

The Szépszerével ensemble, led by Gergely Sámsondi Kiss and Farkas Gyulai, has been running a dance house on Gellért Hill in Budapest every Wednesday since 2008. They learned about music and folk customs through their own experience, as they are students of rural musicians mainly from Transylvania (Erdély), now part of Romania, and formerly part of the Hungarian Duchy. Unfortunately, most of the original artists are no longer alive, which makes it even more valuable for participants here in Poland – the opportunity to touch living history.

We take pleasure in tuning our instruments in accordance with our folk music heritage and playing original melodies in their traditional purity, within the appropriate range, at a lively tempo, but without interrupting their gradual flow.