Community Highlights Europe Another Busy Month

Another Busy Month

We were looking forward to the main celebration of November: the Independence Day festivities that took place on November 11 every year. However, using the calendar of events of the city website and the city information boards, we managed to attend two performances before that celebration. They took place at Podlasie Concert Hall. We also attended a wonderful literary and musical performance at the White Hall arranged by the City Municipal Cultural Center on November 21.

Within the framework of the activities of Siedlce University of the Third Age we attended an opera performance entitled "A Heart in Dilemma."
"A Heart in Dilemma" is a unique performance combining light classical music with classic entertainment. This journey is a musical event filled with the rhythms of waltz, czardas, musicals, and songs from Polish and international stages.

A young, handsome bachelor and two beautiful ladies... What connects them? They are all searching for love. He is a charming Casanova, loving life and women... His heart is a veritable labyrinth of romance. Always confident, full of wit and elegance, but beneath his lighthearted exterior, there is also a touch of mystery and sensitivity that makes him impossible not to love.
The ladies are both beautiful, stylish, and ready for the love of their lives. One is full of spontaneous joy, with a heart brimming with dreams and hope. Her innocence and naivety make her easily captivated. Although her world is filled with idealistic notions of love and happiness, she possesses a charm and warmth that captures the attention of everyone around her. Another one, in spite of men circling her, and her charm and grace attracting admirers, longs for something deeper - a feeling that will not fade after the first rush of admiration. Her inner strength lies in her belief that true love is worth waiting for.

Which one will our beau choose? How many hilarious situations will ensue?
We could see it for ourselves and let love and music enchant us. Beautiful performance, captivating voices, unique arrangements, previously unseen versions of well-known and beloved songs, joy and passion — that’s what we enjoyed!
Featuring: Sylwia Danieluk – soprano, Anna Pastor – mezzo-soprano, Michał Romanowski – bass, Natalia Gaponenko – piano, Dominika Wiśniewska – violin, Maciej Kozioł – double bass.
The performance was exclusively for the students of the Siedlce University of the Third Age. We attended the evening performance, not a matinee, thanks to Martha, our local friend, who is a student of the Siedlce University of the Third Age, but was away at that time and gave the invitation to us. It was at Podlasie Concert Hall at 63 Sienkiewicz Street.

We were glad to attend a unique performance named "Glass" presented by the award-winning dancers from LUZ Alternative Dance Theatre at Podlasie Concert Hall at 63 Sienkiewicz Street. It was a moving story about growing up in a family with alcohol problems, living with guilt, a lack of love, and struggling with oneself. Contemporary dance becomes a language that allows us to discuss what is difficult yet necessary. The purpose of the performance is to draw attention to the problem of DDA (Adult Children of Alcoholics ) and to identify possible ways to help those growing up in dysfunctional families.

The script, direction, and choreography were done by Joanna Woszczyńska. The performance was co-financed by the Municipal Program for the Prevention and Solving of Alcohol-Related Problems and Drug Addiction in 2025 as part of the "Allow Yourself EMOTIONS" Social Campaign.

In the evening of November 11, we attended the National Independence Day festivities in Sikorski Square.
The program featured Marcin Sójka, a famous local singer and bard, who sang with his band featuring primarily the good old songs, as well the modern rock ballads, patriotic and independence-themed songs – the songs that touch the hearts and remind us of the values ​​that allow the Polish people to enjoy their freedom today. All in all, this shared musical celebration was a good opportunity for reflection, pride, and the joy of being together.

Like last year, there was a treat for all the guests: a tourist soup and a sausage cooked by Siedlce County Bikers’ Club members.
At the end of the concert, everybody sang the national anthem and watched the fireworks show above Sikorski Square.

There was a traditional motor rally at the end. They say there about a thousand vehicles taking part in the rally. I did not count, but we could feel the terrible amount of exhaust gases and left soon.

On November 21, 2025, my wife and I attended a musical and literary performance by Ewa Celińska titled "Heart in the Four Seasons." It took place at the White Hall, one of the cultural hubs of the city, provided to the artists by the City Municipal Cultural Center.

Ewa Celińska produced this performance along with her partners from “Stained Glass” Literary Group of Siedlce as part of a scholarship from the Mayor of Siedlc. All in all, it was a lyrical journey through the world of universal emotions — love, longing, and transience — which take on different forms over time. The performers wore the costumes inspired by the seasons, emphasizing their symbolic nature and enhancing the appeal of the performance. The musical setting was created by the following musicians:

• Igor Celiński (Ewa's young brother) – violin;
• Mateusz Pietrzak – guitar;
• Wojciech Kędzierski – cajon;
• Anna Konopka – recitation, vocals, piano;
• Magdalena Jabłkowska – vocals.

According to the MC, Ewa Celińska started writing poetry at the age of five. Now she is twenty years old and studies at Siedlce University. Ewa Celińska wrote in one of her poems, “The fire of stifled words, once it gets a little air and begins to speak, consumes itself harmlessly, growing within itself... Children cannot make sense of sounds, cannot awaken the fire, and so much today depends on how we teach them to use them."

On behalf of the Mayor of the city of Siedlice, Tomasz Hapunowicz, and on her own behalf, Ms.Małgorzata Mańkowska, Councilor of the Siedlce City Council, congratulated Ewa Celińska and her team on their extraordinary talent, their extraordinary sensitivity. Through your work today, she added, we had the opportunity to see everything. We saw empathy, love, joy, the memory of the sulking years, of our ancestors, of our city. Let me quote a fragment of your poem. Perhaps not very precisely. «Our city is like a chest full of treasures.» One of these treasures is you, Ms. Ewa, you and these young artists.

Ms.Margaret continues, "These young artists, who show us how beautiful the souls of youth are, how beautifully we have shaped our future generations in Siedlce. The work you presented to us, this journey through the city moved me incredibly. We saw El Greco, we saw the two towers of the cathedral, Ms. Ewa. Congratulations, and once again, on behalf of the Mayor, I offer my heartfelt thanks for being in this city, for creating for this city and for identifying yourself with our city. You cultivate the tradition of previous generations, a fact reflected in more than one verse of the song. Thank you."

Ms.Bożena Uzęmblo took the floor and said in her speech that she was glad Ewa had undertaken such an effort, that it wasn't just an ordinary evening of poetry, but a poetic and musical one, because only then could you convey her full self, when she offered her companions to show their talents and to act as reciters, as instrumentalists, and also as poets. It was truly beautifully done. She added that it was also worth emphasizing that all the lyrics were recited by heart. This isn't the norm these days, she said, where singers singing their songs have a music stand in front of them and sing while looking at the notes.

Mr. Mariusz Kościński, the Director of MOK (the City Municipal Cultural Center), said the performance was more authentic, more imaginative, so that we could have this connection between the artist and the audience, and that was truly very special. He expressed his hope that this impulse would continue guiding Ewa along her artistic path, enable her to continue creating and working, and preparing her new projects.

This featured blog entry was written by Vic_IV from the blog Our Stay in Poland.
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