I would like to take this opportunity to say how proud and privileged I am to be a part of the Chopin2010 Celebration Committee. When John Szumlas, the Honorary Consul of the Polish Republic, mentioned over a meeting to a few of us about Poland planning a bicentennial global celebration for Chopin’s birthday, my heart jumped with excitement. Music for me is an eternal gift from the heavens and plays an integral role in my life. And the music of Chopin is especially close to my heart. When I hear his music, it brings back fond memories of being in Warsaw, Poland at Lazienki. It brings feelings of peace and contentment, helping through many moments in life and especially through the hardest of times. With this great adoration for Chopin, I started to form many ideas on how we could join the world and bring Chopin to Alberta. As a board member of the Polish Culture Society of Edmonton we started discussing and brainstorming ideas.  Knowing that this would finally happen, more and more ideas developed and my initial series of thoughts became part of a bigger picture. I knew I wanted to share this in a fashion whereby everyone could be involved; we could put together what we were interested in and the possibility of how it could come together. To my surprise, many people shared my enthusiasm and with this, we formed a cohesive team of people. Part of this team not only includes advisors, honorary members; all of us are volunteers. We all have busy lives; families, professions and even so, we took upon this voluntary role to bring this incredible event to life.

I am full of gratitude to be a part of this project, and want to say how I am sure this experience will enrich my life and the lives of others. To be part of a team, putting on a big task to celebrate life, music, art, culture, friends, and strangers this 2010, I know this will be an event to remember.

I would like to especially thank Mr. Szumlas for his insight, sharing ideas, and support. To the Board of Directors of Polish Culture Society of Edmonton and our President Felix Plawski, for the incredible work and involvement. To the WEBski Team Asia Zawaduk and Antoni Kowalczewski for their wonderful and creative work. Beata Kurpinski for the beautiful logo and design. Eric Hansen for his help, guidance and involvement. Thanks to my family for their limitless support and patience with me. To the Calgary team for their collaboration and all the dedication, involvement, putting in of time, heart and effort to get the project up and running and for the incredible results thus far.

Most importantly, I want to say to the many people who are involved in many ways; thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely, Elzbieta Sikorski