Jan is a brilliant drummer. He is also a very good man. Once he said that in his life a man should have something that he loves doing, so that by doing it he can share love with others, or one might say: infect others with love. For Jan this thing is drums.
One day he was away, in a place where he could not have his drums. At first, he thought it was no big deal even if he was not going to play for a week or so. And yet, in the place he was in, there were people singing and so Jan was feeling more and more miserable, not being able to contribute his passion. Someone took pity on him and passed him… a bucket. An ordinary, plastic bucket which for us is just… a bucket. But not for a drummer. Jan turned it upside down and tapped out a whole gamut of sounds… The people around brightened up, beginning to feel somehow uplifted. Thus Jan proved his words, showing what a PASSION is and what it does.
The same truth, though in different words, was captured in Promethidion by Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a poet of the Polish Romanticism movement:
And what is beauty? It is of course a fruit of passion! Any and all beauty!
The International Festival of Children’s Folk Ensembles - FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS is beautiful. Some say it is the most beautiful festival in the world, but it would never shine that bright against the firmament of other folk events and certainly would not be as delightful if it was not for the passion of Antoni Malczak and quite a group of people who work with him.
Who could convey the truths about beauty, love or good from the Festival stage better than Józef Broda – a man with such a great passion – who accompanies himself playing a pipe, a Jew’s harp, an ocarina or a leaf?
What would the Festival of the Children of Mountains be like if it was not for the instructors who passionately prepare the little artists for delightful performances, go looking for ancient games and toys, and revive long-forgotten instruments?
Someone might say: Antoni, Józef, the instructors? But it is their job! Well, the one does not exclude the other! And happy is he who has managed to combine his passion with his job! A man like this never gets up in the morning, feeling any existential pain: “Oh no, not again, why do I have to go to work!?” He would never say that he “has to,” and, what is more, he can even – which may be hard for many of us to believe – be happy that it is Monday!
People with passions, just like any other people, are not free from moments of doubt or discouragement, but their passions provide them with powerful motivation to treat both inner and outer obstacles as stepping stones to ever greater perfection, to looking for more ways of sharing their passions with others.
There is a continuation of the story about Jan. On the same trip there was another man with a passion. His name was Janusz, and he was a musician too. He was playing his own, very moving compositions on a guitar.
A few weeks later I attended their concert in a Cracow church. Janusz, a bard and a guitarist, and Jan, a bucket-playing drummer. The church was full to bursting; it was even hard to find a single standing place, but – I am telling the truth – not because the admission was free. The reason was that the two artists, who love their passions and the people around, can just offer their best. And they always do it like they have heard Józef Broda say: “I am, I have, I will give….”
“I am, I have, I will give…” – these three, short phrases capture the absolute essence of life informed by passion… life oriented towards others… life that has meaning.
The same truth, though in different words, was captured in Promethidion by Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a poet of the Polish Romanticism movement:
For light is not to be hidden under a bushel,
Nor does salt of the earth belong with seasonings,
Beauty is there to delight and entice us
To work – work is there for us to rise from the dead.
And what is beauty? It is of course a fruit of passion! Any and all beauty!
The International Festival of Children’s Folk Ensembles - FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS is beautiful. Some say it is the most beautiful festival in the world, but it would never shine that bright against the firmament of other folk events and certainly would not be as delightful if it was not for the passion of Antoni Malczak and quite a group of people who work with him.
Who could convey the truths about beauty, love or good from the Festival stage better than Józef Broda – a man with such a great passion – who accompanies himself playing a pipe, a Jew’s harp, an ocarina or a leaf?
What would the Festival of the Children of Mountains be like if it was not for the instructors who passionately prepare the little artists for delightful performances, go looking for ancient games and toys, and revive long-forgotten instruments?
Someone might say: Antoni, Józef, the instructors? But it is their job! Well, the one does not exclude the other! And happy is he who has managed to combine his passion with his job! A man like this never gets up in the morning, feeling any existential pain: “Oh no, not again, why do I have to go to work!?” He would never say that he “has to,” and, what is more, he can even – which may be hard for many of us to believe – be happy that it is Monday!
People with passions, just like any other people, are not free from moments of doubt or discouragement, but their passions provide them with powerful motivation to treat both inner and outer obstacles as stepping stones to ever greater perfection, to looking for more ways of sharing their passions with others.
There is a continuation of the story about Jan. On the same trip there was another man with a passion. His name was Janusz, and he was a musician too. He was playing his own, very moving compositions on a guitar.
A few weeks later I attended their concert in a Cracow church. Janusz, a bard and a guitarist, and Jan, a bucket-playing drummer. The church was full to bursting; it was even hard to find a single standing place, but – I am telling the truth – not because the admission was free. The reason was that the two artists, who love their passions and the people around, can just offer their best. And they always do it like they have heard Józef Broda say: “I am, I have, I will give….”
“I am, I have, I will give…” – these three, short phrases capture the absolute essence of life informed by passion… life oriented towards others… life that has meaning.
Kamil Cyganik