Thank you for your support during month of April 2024. I have had such a wonderful month full of great events and have met fabulous communities here in UK, Poland and Hamburg, Germany sharing friendship, music and celebrating our shared culture and history.
I am delighted to share with you my new concert dates for May 2024 – hope to see you soon !
🎵KATY CARR NEWS & APRIL 2024 CONCERTS🎵
15th – 20th May 2024 Katy Carr will be performing at Monte Cassino in Italy as part of the 80th Anniversary of The Battle of Monte Cassino commemoration event located at the Polish cemetery and in the town of Cassino, more details on locations coming soon – keep a look out on my social media channels on facebook and instagram for updates. Let me know if you are going and maybe I’ll see you there! I will be performing a selection of my own song repertoire including the songs
Wojtek the Soldier Bear written by Katy Carr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1uEn7dvne8 and the famous
Red Poppies on Monte Cassino song Czerwone Maki na Monte Cassino https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJsInDHNa00
Sunday 26th May 2024 – 3pm Katy Carrwill be performing with the Zywiec Dance Group UK at the Windsor Hall in Ealing as part of the Polish Heritage Days event St Benedict’s 54 Eaton Rise, London W5 2ESSunday 26th May 2024 at 4:00 – 6pm Atrium (3rd Floor) at the Polish Social and Cultural Association POSK 238-246 King St, London W6 0RF THE SPRING RECITAL BY KATY CARR in honour of The 80th Anniversaries of the Battle of Monte Cassino 1944 – concert at the POSK JAZZ CAFE, as part of Polish Heritage Days – free admisson – the artist will have copies of her latest CD available for purchase
The RIBA Royal Institute of British Architect chartered architect Alexander Smaga is kindly joining us for this special Polish Heritage Days event and will also give a special presentation of his inspiring Polish Air Force Memorial in Normandy and new crowdfunder initiative for D-DAY80 – Join this incredible action to commemorate the Polish pilots who flew alongside the Royal Air Force during D-DAY with this special Polish Air Force pin badge for D-DAY80! link – https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/polishpilots-dday80
❤️ BIG THANK YOU APRIL 2024❤️
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to Margot Löhr and her wonderful community in Hamburg, Germany for hosting event and our concert for the inauguration of Teressa-Platz (corner of Leo-Leistikow-Allee/Uferstraße), Hamburg-Uhlenhorst. It was a very moving event and I attended performed with my wonderful friend and long time accordion musical collaborator Anja McCloskey who is now based in Hamburg, Germany.
Below with the wonderful author Margot Löhr and musician Anja McCloskey in Teressa Platz, Hamburg April 2024
The event was to inaugurate Teressa Platz (square) dedicated to the memory of a child called Teresa (German – Teressa), daughter of Hanka Scira a Polish slave labourer in Germany in WWII who was stolen from Poland during WWII.
In the above picture I am singing lullablies in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and French (the Jean Jaques Goldman song called Comme Toi ) remembering all child victims of WWII. When I sang these songs, I also remembered the 1 million children who have been stolen by Russia from Ukraine since Feb 2022 and pray for their safe return. We received a standing ovation and cheers from flats on the after our performance of the Ukrainian lullaby Oy Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon – The Dream Passes by the Windows.
More info here in German
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to the lovely Margot Löhr and her husband Peter who were so hospitable during my stay in Hamburg – they are doing remarkable work connecting German, British and Polish communities in Hamburg, Germany. Such wonderful friends and Margot made the most delicious cheesecake!
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to Lucyna Harc Deputy General Director of the State Archives in Warsaw who showed incredible kindness to me during my visit to Hamburg. She was a professional diplomat and had so much grace and character. She welcomed me to Hamburg and put herself ourtto help me . I consider her a great Ambassador for Poland. I hope to see Lucyna again on my next trip to Warsaw – I’ve definitely made a new friend !
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU Justyna my Polish friend who invited me to make music with wonderful musicians from the global music community – it was such fun and Happy Birthday Justyna ! Sto Lat Justyna! thanks for a great birthday party!
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to Mrs. Cecelia Szarwinska Dillon and Mr. Mark Dillon Chair, Board Of Directors Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International for kindly inviting me to participate with my song my song Motylek (English – Butterfly album Paszport) inspired by the Polish Air Force Pilots who fought so bravely alongside the Royal Air Force during WWII https://cgsi.org/2024-cgsi-symposium 🙂 Congratulations to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library’s 50th anniversary (1974- 2024) – we all raise a toast to you from the UK! “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill I had this lovely letter of appreciation from Mr. DillonThank you again for your wonderful generous recording for our CGSI Symposium April 20-21. Deputy Consul General Ondrej Pomelto of the Czech Republic Consulate in Chicago was among our honored guests and thoroughly enjoyed the event. Katy’s song Motylek was played in tandem with presentations from Dr. Megan Kelleher of the RAF Museum and Stephanie Abrams of the New England Air Museum in Connecticut. The Eduard company in Czechia donated a number of Spitfire and Hurricane model airplane kits and Squadron 311 B-24 posters that were well received.As a prelude to the discussion and your song we also had a short clip of vintage Squadron 310 footage coupled with an overlay of the interwar Czechoslovak national anthem. We closed our event with an oral history from Dagmar Rus, spouse of RAF Squadron 311 navigator Stanislaw Sacha, who recounted the family’s escape from Bratislava in March 1950 aboard commercial airliners that made it to West Germany. Stanislaw’s son Michael, who lives in Minnesota,was in the audience and shared family memories.❤️ A BIG THANK YOU again to Jola Debicka and everyone at the Polish Scottish Cultural Association in Edinburgh for the fantastic concert – below I am presenting one of my favourite singers from Poland – Eugeniusz Bodo – i love his 1930s songs and style. Although he was one of Poland’s greatest interwar stars he was kidnapped and stolen by the Soviets and murdered in a Russian prison in 1943 RIP.
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to The William Blake Congregation – here I am singing Blake poems with the great poet and artist Stephen Micalef who is an expert on William Blake outside Blake House in South Molton Street, Bond St London W1
Below with the William Blake Congregation and the William Blake Society celebrating Catherine Blake’s 262nd Birthday.
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to Justyna my wonderful Polish friend who invited me for a fascinating evening of music making for her birthday party in North London – It was so much fun and inspiring to make music with great international musicians and friends.
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU to Joanna Olkuska Director of The Polish Saturday School in Lancaster and her team of incredible teachers for a wonderful Polish Heritage Days event at Morecambe Bay Academy, Dallam Ave, Morecambe, Lancaster LA4 5BGIt was such a memorable event and I met so many wonderful new friends including the Mayor and Mayoress of Lancaster pictured below who very kindly attended and watched my performance and spoke of British Polish Friendship.
❤️ A BIG THANK YOU again to the Polish Scottish Cultural Association who hosted such a wonderful concert for me – below I am presenting one of my favourite 1930s interwar singers – Eugeniusz Bodo – a superstar who was stolen by Russia in WWII and murdered in a Russian prison in 1943 RIP even though he had a Swiss passport. We remember Bodo’s genius and artistry forever.
✨WE REMEMBER ✨✨RIP DANUTA GRADOSIELSKA✨
I was devastated to hear of the passing of Danuta Gradosielska (née Mączka) a wonderful person, Polish patriot and war veteran. Sending love and strength to her family at this very sad time. Daunta was stolen as a slave in 1940 transported to Stalin’s slave labour camps – the Gulags in Siberia when she was 14 years of age. She had been living a happy, carefree life on Osada Krechowiecka (an army settlement) with her parents, two brothers and a sister. She became a brave female soldier in General Anders Army and served at the Battle of Monte Cassino 1944. We commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino years this year 2024. Picture to left at Pani Danuta’s funeral RIP – Saying goodbye to one of my best friends and champions RIP There will never be another person like Pani Gradosielska who was like a mother to me – a Polish female slave of Stalins human trafficking slave trade in Siberia 1940 a Żołnierz kobiet – a female soldier of the 316 all female company of the Polish 🇵🇱 II Corps serving at the Battle of Monte Cassino 1944 Rest in Peace – Pani Danuta you will be forever missed and the Polish 🇵🇱 priest was right when he said that you were and are a true friend of Jesus ✝️- a kind, compassionate, loving, caring, true inspiracja inspiring presence of spirit – may the angels guide your soul safely on and may we try to live as you did – in the truest most honest purity of heart – i miss you so much 😢😢😢 🙏 ✨✨✨❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏
❤️ STAY SAFE AND STRONG ❤️💕Thank you for your continuing support of my music💕Keep in touch ! Lots of love to you and your family i pozdrawam serdecznie✸✸✸✸✸ Katy Carr and the Aviators ✸✸✸✸✸★CHECK OUT MY LINKTREE – https://linktr.ee/katycarr ★ ❤️❤️❤️★VISIT MY SHOP★ www.katycarr.com/shopPlease support my work by purchasing any of my CDs directly from me – I will write a bespoke, handwritten dedication to you 🙂
Katy Carr is an award winning British recording artist and has released 6 albums. An Ambassador of Polish History in Great Britain, her recent albums. Paszport (2012), ‘Polonia’ (2015) Providence (2020) are inspired by the Polish WWII experience. In 2016 Katy was awarded the Pro Patria medal for her humanitarian and musical work.
★ Katy Carr’s music quotes ★– ‘Carr is a fine example of that much-maligned beast we call Authenticity …’ – ‘never less than immaculate’ Sunday Times Culture Magazine– ‘Concept album of the Year’ The Guardian– ‘Her idiosyncrasy as a musician was meant to follow – even the most avowed labels fight shy of butterflies’ – ‘She’s a true original, standing out like the shine generated by a Swan Vesta applied to a cigarette in the Blackout.’ ★Katy Carr’s Awards★2016: Nominated Best Concept Album, Polonia, Independent Music Awards2016: Pro Patria Medal (Poland) 2014: Honorary membership, Polish 1st Armored Division 2014: Best Concept Album, Paszport, Independent Music Awards 2013: Nominated for Best Artist, Songlines Music Awards 2013: Polish Daily Award for Culture 2012: Nominated for the National Lottery Good Causes Award2011: Nominated for the London Music Award
© 2024 Katy Carr. All rights reserved.Illustration and web graphics Susan Burghart © 2024❤️❤️❤️✸✸✸✸✸