Piotr Mirski, singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, guitar, mandolin and percussions player started his solo activity in 2002 performing sung poetry. During the 2003-2005 period he was awarded at a couple of Sung Poetry festivals in Poland. But his music interests changed in 2006, and from that time onwards he has specialized in performing Jewish music – klezmer, Yiddish and Hebrew.
In 2008 he edited and published a small anthology of Yiddish and Hebrew songs, called Jewish Songbook, with notes, Polish translations and short articles about Jewish musical heritage. During that project he translated (by himself and in cooperation with other songwriters) a dozen of Yiddish and Hebrew songs into Polish, and, with the band Klezmaholics, he recorded his first CD, called Greatest Hits. In march 2010 this music reached U.S. – a 17 minutes broadcast devoted to Piotr's band was aired by WORT 89.9 radio station in Madison, presenting songs from the CD and informations concerning his first publication. In December 2009, together with the Klezmaholics group, Piotr was awarded at The International Festival of Folk Music "Mikołajki Folkowe", one of the major folk music festivals in Poland.
Piotr Mirski constantly gives shows and until now he has performed in European countries like Poland, Sweden, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania, for both, Jewish and Non-Jewish audiences. In 2009 he also joined a Polish folk group, Kapela Drewutnia, that performs Polish, Ukrainian and Lemko folk music. If you perform Jewish music born in Central and Eastern Europe, it is very important not to loose a connection with the Slavic musical folklore, in which Jewish music is partly rooted in – says Piotr.
Currently Piotr is working on another songbook and The Jazz Midrash project, that contains own interpretations of traditional pijutim (Hebrew religious songs), Psalms, and a number of songs of his own, based on the Hebrew Bible and Talmudic Legends, in the form of a "midrashic dialogue" touching upon contemporary themes and music genres, performed with various and atypical instruments. The music he creates is not an academic combination of old tunes in new arrangements, this music is filled with living Jewish spirit, of the past and the present time.
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the Anna Lindh Foundation.
Piotr Mirski, singer, songwriter, composer, arranger, guitar, mandolin and percussions player started his solo activity in 2002 performing sung poetry. During the 2003-2005 period he was awarded at a couple of Sung Poetry festivals in Poland. But his music interests changed in 2006, and from that time onwards he has specialized in performing Jewish music – klezmer, Yiddish and Hebrew.
