Sinfonia Varsovia in the “Efekt Chopina” educational programme
Little Basil has set off on a musical tour of Poland together with Frycek, and joining them on the journey are musicians associated with Sinfonia Varsovia.
Sinfonia Varsovia has joined “Efekt Chopina”, a nationwide educational programme run by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, with the concert “How to Become a Composer, or Little Basil Visits Frycek”. This is the next chapter in the friendship between Little Basil, the musical dragon, and young Fryderyk, which began on 8 June 2025 with a family concert marking Children’s Day in Żelazowa Wola.
What does it mean to be a composer – and could a dragon become one too? Together with the children, Little Basil, a friendly descendant of the legendary Warsaw basilisk, and Frycek – a character representing Chopin as a child – try to answer this question. Frycek talks about how he has been inventing music since he was very young, while Little Basil encourages the youngest listeners to listen attentively to the sounds of the world around them. The children discover the sound of the flute, violin, cello and piano, and realise that composing begins with listening – and can be enormous fun. The concert is aimed at children aged 5–9.
Responsibility for the musical side of the event lies with a seven-strong ensemble associated with Sinfonia Varsovia and the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy:
Agnieszka Zdebska – violin (Sinfonia Varsovia)
Michalina Barcikowska – flute (graduate of the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy)
Wojciech Bafeltowski – cello (graduate of the Sinfonia Varsovia Academy)
Tomasz Pawłowski – piano
The roles of Little Basil and Frycek are played by Aneta Jucejko-Pałęcka and Wojciech Pałęcki, while the scriptwriter and presenter of the concert is Malina Sarnowska.
In autumn 2025 Little Basil and Frycek embarked on a musical tour of smaller – and very small – towns and villages across Poland. So far, the concert has been given in Szudziałowo, Węgrów, Libiąż, Czastary and Sieradz. Local reports consistently emphasise not only the enthusiasm of the young audience, but also the attendance figures – in Sieradz alone more than two hundred of the youngest listeners took part in the event. For many children, it was their first ever live encounter with a grand piano and string instruments.
Particularly important here is the dimension of widening access to culture. The towns and villages taking part in the “Efekt Chopina” programme are scattered across Poland, and the groups of children who come to the concerts often have the opportunity to see a grand piano up close for the very first time. The Fryderyk Chopin Institute makes every effort to ensure that – wherever conditions allow – a grand piano is provided, and in locations where access is more logistically challenging, an upright piano is brought in instead. The concert with Frycek and Little Basil forms one of the educational strands of the programme run by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, in which Sinfonia Varsovia shares its experience of working with the youngest audiences.
Little Basil’s musical journey does not end there. In December 2025 the ensemble will visit further towns, including Hażlach, Lelis and Pruszków, continuing to encourage children to listen, imagine and co-create music. We will be reporting on Little Basil and Frycek’s further adventures within the “Efekt Chopina” programme on our website.
