Thames Valley University in Ealing, West London, is to host a festival of Polish music to demonstrate the depth and breadth of Poland’s unique musical culture. Muzyka will be held on the weekend of October 29 and 30 to give Londoners the rare opportunity to take part in free workshops in traditional Polish music styles such as ‘white voice’ singing or Polish Klezmer music. Adults and school children with an interest in World Music can take part in a Chopin workshop or learn about traditional music from top visiting musicians from Poland.

Workshops and evening performances will be held by The Warsaw Village Band and The Jascha Lieberman Trio, both leading Polish groups that fuse traditional Polish music with contemporary genres such as the blues and dub reggae. TVU Senior Lecturer in Music, Simon Zagorski-Thomas, said: “When you mention Polish music, most people think of Chopin or Gorecki. We hope this festival will introduce Londoners to some other aspects of contemporary Polish musical culture.”

The Warsaw Village Band comprises six musicians dedicated to conserving and experimentally enhancing the traditional folk music of the Warsowia region in the heart of Poland. They use a special old technique of singing called white voices, which they have developed into a more contemporary style sometimes called bio-techno or hip-hopsasa. They were 2003 BBC World Music Newcomer award winners and their performance at Muzyka will be their only London concert in their UK tour. They will be performing on Saturday 29th October (8pm) at Ealing Town Hall with tickets priced at £12.

The Jascha Lieberman trio is a Klezmer/ambient fusion band from Krakow. This will be their first UK appearance. The trio mixes the music of Eastern Europe’s Ashkenazi Jews with traditional Romanian and Serbian songs and their own compositions. They will be performing on Sunday 30 October, 12midday at Ealing Town Hall, tickets are priced at £20 including a traditional Polish lunch.

The Faculty of the Arts at TVU (formerly the London College of Music and Media) is seeking to widen the scope of its musical activity to more accurately reflect the interests and culture of the people in its area. As well as the Muzyka festival the University is seeking to develop a B.Mus performance degree in Hindustani and Sikh music.

The event is supported by Polish-owned budget airline Centralwings, who are assisting musicians to travel to England from Poland.

The workshops are free but pre-booking is advisable as spaces are limited. For more information on both the workshops and booking concert tickets, please contact muzyka@tvu.ac.uk or call 020 8231 0160.