Możdżer chairs jury at Montreux Jazz fest

The event is held within the framework of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, launched in 1999 under the patronage of the American trumpeter and pianist Quincy Jones.

Możdżer told the Polish Press Agency that the position of jury chairman is both a great honour for him and a fascinating experience which allows him to learn from those at the threshold of their artistic careers.

Last year, Poland’s Piotr Orzechowski, born in 1990, became the youngest laureate in the history of the Montreux Jazz Piano Competition. This year, no Polish pianist qualified to the event.

Leszek Mozdzer gives a recital in Montreux on Wednesday, under the motto ‘From Chopin to Komeda’.

“The programme is a blend of classical music and jazz, though for me jazzman Komeda is among the classics of Polish music,” the pianist said.

A prominent jazz pianist and composer, Komeda wrote the soundtracks to Roman Polański’s cult films ‘Knife in the Water’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. He died in 1969, aged 38. (mk/jb)

A crowd cheers on Cuban-American rapper Pitbull at the 46th Montreux Jazz Festival. Photo: PAP/EPA/Jean-Christophe Bott