Totus Tuus: Concert Tribute to St. John Paul II

Mieczysław Surzyński (1866–1924)

Prelude on “Wesoły na dzień dziś nastał” (“Joyful Is the Day That Has Dawned”), Op. 42

Witold Zalewski, a graduate of the Academy of Music in Kraków, studied organ with Prof. Jan Jargoń. Since 1995, he has served as the First Organist of Wawel Royal Cathedral in Kraków. As a soloist, he has performed at major festivals throughout Poland and internationally, appearing at distinguished venues including Notre‑Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as well as in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Jerusalem, Irkutsk, Istanbul, and Moscow.

He teaches at the Intercollegiate Institute for Church Music in Kraków, where he leads courses in liturgical practice and organ performance. In 2012, he earned a PhD in art. Since 1998, he has been a member of the Church Music Committee at the Metropolitan Curia in Kraków and has served as organist during several papal pilgrimages.

Actively involved in the promotion of organ music, he co‑organizes numerous festivals and concerts. In 2011, he was honored by Pope Benedict XVI with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal for his contributions to church music.

Hanna Zalewska is a fourth‑year student at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, where she studies with Prof. Dr. Hab. Andrzej Białko.

She is a laureate of numerous music competitions, including the Polish National Competition for Young Pianists Chopin pod Wawelem (2016); the 3rd Polish National Piano Competition (Trzciana, 2018 – First Prize); the 11th Competition for Young Organists (Kraków, 2018 – First Prize); the 9th Polish National Organ Competition (Olsztyn, 2019 – Third Prize); and the Polish National Organ Competition CEA (Wrocław, 2019 – First Prize). In 2025, she also received First Prize in the duet category at the 3rd International Music Competition in Kyoto. Hanna has participated in numerous masterclasses, including those held at the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice in 2016 and 2018.

She maintains an active concert schedule and has performed in cities such as Kraków, Oświęcim, Rabka‑Zdrój, Zabrze, Jastrzębia Góra, Koszalin, and Drezdenko.

In 2019, she represented Kraków at World Youth Day in Panama, where she gave an organ recital in Panama City. That same year, she toured France as part of the Fête de la Musique project. She was a recipient of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Scholarship for artistic achievement in the 2018/2019 season. In 2021, she realized a scholarship project entitled Hanna Zalewska Presents the Organs of Kraków.