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An exhibition at the Georgian House in Edinburgh opening in June will tell the remarkable story of Felix Yaniewicz (1762-1848), a celebrated Polish-Lithuanian violinist and composer, who settled in Scotland and co-founded the first Edinburgh music festival in 1815. Alongside the exhibition, there will be a programme of talks, lecture-recitals and musical performances.

After a cosmopolitan career in Europe, Felix Yaniewicz arrived in London around 1790 and eventually made his way to Edinburgh where he lived from 1815 until his death in 1848. It was the discovery and restoration of a historic square piano bearing his signature that led to new research on his career and a project to celebrate his role in Scotland’s musical culture.

The Yaniewicz & Green square piano was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign in 2021, in partnership with the Scottish Polish community, with donations from all over Britain, Poland, Germany, Norway, France, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. Its arrival in Scotland last year was celebrated with two recitals hosted by the Polish Consulate in Edinburgh. The exhibition at The Georgian House will be the first opportunity for this beautiful instrument to be seen in public.

The exhibition ‘Music and Migration in Georgian Edinburgh: The Story of Felix Yaniewicz’ brings together a unique collection of musical instruments, portraits, manuscripts, silver and gold personal possessions, letters and autographs, many of them passed down the generations in his surviving family, and almost none of them seen in public before.

Together, these will offer fascinating insights into the career of this charismatic performer, composer, impresario and musical entrepreneur, who left a lasting mark on Scottish musical culture.
This exhibition has been organised in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events including illustrated talks, lecture-recitals and musical performances at the Georgian House, and an ‘in conversation’ event at Ghillie Dhu with critically-acclaimed writer and broadcaster Armando Iannucci on music, migration and Scotland.

A programme of events held during the exhibition will animate Yaniewicz’s story in illustrated talks and lecture-recitals in the Drawing Room of the Georgian House, including performances on the historic Yaniewicz & Green square piano. 

More details on the box office website here or use the links below

• 26 June – Felix Yaniewicz: Life and Legend  
• 19 August – Music and Migration in Georgian Edinburgh 
• 20 August – The Story of the First Edinburgh Music Festival​
• 20 August – ‘Pro Lithuania’: Patriotism in Exile
• 17 September – Every Instrument tells a Story
• 18 September – Mr Yaniewicz and Mme Catalani  families event
• 18 September –  Mr Yaniewicz and Mme Catalani  evening performance
• 22 October – Every Instrument tells a Story
• 23 October – Mr Yaniewicz and Mme Catalani – families event
• 23 October – Mr Yaniewicz and Mme Catalani – evening performance

Plus a special event for our festival weekend, at Ghillie Dhu:

• 21 August – Armando Iannucci in conversation, on music, migration and Scotland