The Lassak "Helios" Family Folk Ensemble from Zakopane

• Katarzyna Lassak „Helios” – violin(prym), vocal, traditional pastoral instruments: złóbcoki, double pipe
• Halina Maciata-Lassak – violin, vocal
• Anna Lassak „Helios” – violin, vocal
• Tomasz Lassak „Helios” – Podhale bass, vocal
   
• Toruń Symphony Orchestra
• Adam Banaszak – conductor
   
• Paweł Sztompke - host

Programme:

• „Nuty” góralskie – traditional Podhale melodies 
  -    Nuty przywitalne. Marsz Madziarski. Marsz Jaworzyński
  -    Nuty ozwodne „Zokopiańskie”
  -    Nuty Sabałowe i drobne
  -    Nuta balladowa Janosikowa „Kie Janicka wiedli od Lewoce”
  -    Nuty wierchowe
  -    Nuta krzesano „wiecno” i ozwodno „zielono”
  -    Nuty do tońca zbójnickiego
• J.A. Maklakiewicz – Violin Concerto No. 2 "Góralski"
• W. Kilar - Krzesany
• W. Kilar - Kościelec 1909

There is no need to travel to the mountains this summer. For one evening, the spirit of Podhale will come to Toruń. Our guests will be members of the Lassak Family Band “Helios” from Zakopane, heirs to the rich, multi-generational traditions of highlander music from the Skalne Podhale region. Their family history is intertwined with the cultural heritage of the Tatras and contains stories as remarkable as the music they perform. Among their ancestors was Szymon Lassak, a master carpenter who, in 1904, built the famous chapel in Jaszczurówka to a design by Stanisław Witkiewicz. The family’s roots in the region reach back even further: the oldest known engraving depicting highlander musicians, dating from 1809, features members of the Maciat family, from whom the Lassaks are descended. 

The star of the evening will be Katarzyna Lassak, a violinist and graduate of the Chopin University of Music, who holds a doctoral degree in the arts. Her work successfully bridges the worlds of classical and folk music. Nominated for the Fryderyk Award 2026, Katarzyna Lassak gained particular recognition through the world premiere recording of Jan Adam Maklakiewicz’s Violin Concerto No. 2 “Highlander”. Through her performances, she has played a leading role in restoring this unjustly neglected work to the repertoire of concert halls and philharmonic orchestras across Poland. 

“The concerto has finally found its ideal performer – a violinist who understands both the music of its origins and its artistic transformations. We may expect the work to enjoy a new life on the concert stage”, wrote Ruch Muzyczny in praise of the artist.

The artist herself describes Maklakiewicz’s fascination with the folklore of Podhale in the following way: “While gathering material for the concerto, he listened to highlander musicians performing live and transcribed their music by hand. (...) The principal themes of the work never return in exactly the same form. Instead, they reappear in ever-changing variants, enriched with new ornamentation and modelled on the improvisatory, variational character of traditional Podhale lead melodies.” 

Alongside Maklakiewicz’s concerto, the Jordanki Concert Hall will resonate with the authentic sounds of the Tatra Mountains. Traditional melodies from the Podhale region will be performed using original highlander instruments, including the złóbcoki – a traditional string instrument associated with the region – and shepherds’ pipes. 

The musical journey will culminate in performances by the Toruń Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Adam Banaszak. The programme will feature two of Wojciech Kilar’s most celebrated symphonic poems inspired by the Tatras: Krzesany, a vibrant and rhythmically charged work named after one of the region’s most spectacular traditional dances, and Kościelec 1909, a dramatic and deeply moving composition written in memory of Mieczysław Karłowicz, who tragically lost his life in an avalanche near Mount Kościelec. 

Guiding audiences through this journey into the heart of the Polish mountains will be Paweł Sztompke, a journalist from Polish Radio Programme 1.
 

Mecenas Główny: Miasto Toruń 
Partner Główny: Samorząd Województwa Kujawsko-Pomorskiego
Dofinansowano z Funduszy Europejskich
Patronat honorowy: Marszałek Województwa Kujawsko-Pomorskiego Piotr Całbecki, Prezydent Miasta Torunia Paweł Gulewski
Mecenas Kultury - Główny Sponsor: PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A.
Mecenas Strategiczny: Strabag Sp. z o.o.
Darczyńca: Konsul Honorowy Finlandii w Toruniu - Tadeusz Pająk 
Partnerzy: Pneuma Jarosław Pawlicki, Pirmedia Sp. z o.o., Maciej Zieliński - fotograf, KM Transport Jadwiga Łączyńska, Fisheye Production Marcin Rybicki, MZK w Toruniu Sp. z o.o., Filharmonia Pomorska im. Ignacego Jana Paderewskiego w Bydgoszczy
Partner motoryzacyjny: Toyota Bednarscy
Partner technologiczny: Vobacom Sp. z o.o.
Patronat medialny: TVP3 Bydgoszcz, TV Toruń, Nowości - Dziennik Toruński , Toruń Nasze Miasto, Polskie Radio PiK, POLMIC 
Organizator: Toruńska Orkiestra Symfoniczna Instytucja finansowana ze środków Gminy Miasta Toruń