After a very sucessful tour of Texas last year, four members of the Polish folk group Tekla Klebetnica, Zygmunt Czupryn, Anna Adamowska, Wojciech Świerczyna, and Marcin Bobak will be coming back to Texas in September as guests of Bryan residents Jim and Kathy Mazurkiewicz. The talented group came in second place in “Mam Talent” or “Got Talent” in Warsaw last year competing with contestants from Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and other countries. They were the only musical group to make the finals with over 8,000 different performances that originally applied for the contest.
Tekla Klebetnica will be busy playing their beautiful music at various venues in Texas for almost a month. Their Texas tour will include performances in Houston, Austin, College Station, Chappell Hill, Anderson, Floresville and Bremond including a special Polish Day performance at the State Capitol as guests of Governor Perry. They will also play and sing at Catholic Mass for Our Lady of Czestochowa in Houston, St. Mary in Bremond and St. Stanislaus in Anderson.
The “Tekla Klebetnica” band began their career in 2006, when Zygmunt and Ania met playing Polish Highlander music together. Over time, they were interested in looking into other folk music including traditional Polish, Slovakian, Hungarian, Romanian and Gypsy melodies performed in their own arrangements. Each of the four musicians was connected to music since childhood from the ages of 5 and 6 years old. Later, Ania and Marcin studied music at the Music Academy in Katowice and Marek studied at the Music Academy in Krakow. Zygmunt is the only one of the group that is self-taught. In addition, Ania and Marcin grew up with traditional Polish folk music, Marek with Slovakian and Gypsy music and Zygmunt was a member of an orchestra and they each draw inspiration from their roots. They have played all over Europe including countries such as Ireland, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Georgia and Uzbekistan. They have played in many festivals including Taca Dancer, Musicastrada, Sharq Taronalari, Art Gen, The World of Accordion and many others. One of their musical highlights was performing with world gypsy musician and European Star, Maestro Roby Lakatos and his ensemble.
Tekla Klebetnica Performances in Texas:
(Schedule subject to last minute changes)
Friday, September 12, 2014
5:00 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
7:00 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
Saturday, September 13, 2014
10:30 a.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
12:00 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
2:00 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
3:45 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
4:45 p.m. Play with Mazurkiewicz band for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa
8:00 p.m. Attend the Texas A&M University football game in College Station
Sunday, September 14, 2014
10:00 a.m. Play for Mass at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
1:15 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
2:45 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
6:00 p.m. Play for “Dozynki” (Harvest Festival) at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Houston
Friday, September 19, 2014
8:00 p.m. Attend “The MozArt Group” at the Stafford Center presented by Polonia Restaurant
Sunday, September 21, 2014
10:00 a.m. Attend Texas A&M University student Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in College Station
Thursday, September 25, 2014
6:00 p.m. Dinner at the Salt Lick with Joanna Gutt-Lehr and the Austin Polish Society in Austin
8:00 p.m. Play for the Austin Polish Society at the home of Joanna Gutt-Lehr
Friday, September 26 2014
12:00 noon Play in the Texas Capitol in Austin (1 hour and 15 minutes ) Wawel is invited to dance also.
5:30 p.m. Play in Floresville for the Panna Maria/Silesian Polish Immigrants and anyone wanting to attend (Father Frank Kurzaj is organizing this concert)
Saturday, September 27, 2014
6:30 p.m. Play for Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bremond
8:00 p.m. Play at the White Eagle in Bremond
Sunday, September 28, 2014
12 noon Play at the Houston Slavic Heritage Festival
3:00 p.m. Play and attend Bar-B-Que at Jozwiak’s store in Chappell Hill
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Marcin and Wojciech, two of the four musicians leave for Poland to return to college
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Ania and Zygmunt leave for the International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saturday, October 11, 2014
12 noon Play with Jim Mazurkiewicz and Polska Kapela for the Scarecrow festival in Chappell Hill
Sunday, October 12, 2014
10:00 a.m. Play for St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Anderson
2:00 p.m. Play with Brian Marshal and friends for St. Stanislaus Annual Homecoming
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Zygmunt and Ania leave for Poland to return to work and college
Below is a slideshow of photos of some of last years Tekla Klebetnica’s Texas performances.
James Smock has always held an interest in his Polish ancestors and heritage. He is a native Houstonian with Polish roots in Bremond, Marlin and New Waverly, Texas.