Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeyeva, winner of last year’s Chopin Competition in Warsaw, is billed tonight at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert as part of a promotion of Polish culture in the Big Apple.

The Warsaw-based Ludwig von Beethoven Association, the co-organizer of the event, has used the opportunity to promote major cultural events in Poland this year.

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A special edition of The Beethoven Magazine  is to be distributed among members of the audience by students of the city’s arts colleges. It features a look-back at the Chopin Competition, articles on Poland’s most prestigious festivals and profiles of Polish ‘cultural ambassadors’ including the singers Aleksandra Kurzak, Mariusz Kwiecień and Piotr Beczała, the composer Abel Korzeniowski and the painters Wilhelm Sasnal and Marcin Maciejowski. The programme for tonight’s concert includes messages from US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg.

On the eve of her orchestral appearance, Monday, Avdeyeva gave a recital at the Polish Consulate in New York.

While in New York, Elżbieta Penderecka, President of the Beethoven Association, is continuing talks with American agencies on joint projects to promote Polish music in 2013, which will mark the centenary of the bith of Witold Lutosławski (1913-1994), the 80th anniversary of the birth of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933-2010) as well as the 80th birthday of Krzysztof Penderecki. (mk)