Chopin Meets Jazz: Three Brians in Concert at the KF Washington, DC

Chopin Meets Jazz Night at KF Washington

Join us for an extraordinary evening where the timeless music of Fryderyk Chopin meets the creative spirit of jazz.

Saturday, September 19, 2026 | 5:00 PM
Kosciuszko Foundation, Washington, DC Center
2025 O Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

A Concert of Brians’: Chopin and Jazz brings together acclaimed concert pianist Brian Ganz and the B & B Jazz Duo, featuring Brian Aylaian, bass, and Brian Smith, piano. The evening celebrates Chopin’s enduring influence while exploring how his melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and expressive spirit can inspire new musical voices through jazz improvisation and composition.

A special highlight will be two original compositions by Brian Smith, inspired by Chopin’s music, performed alongside the original Chopin works by Brian Ganz:

• Chopin’s Mazurka in G Minor, Op. 67, No. 2
• Variations and Improvisations on Chopin’s Mazurka in G Minor, Op. 67, No. 2
• Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor, Op. 28, No. 2
• Variations and Improvisations on Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor, Op. 28, No. 2

The program will also feature original jazz compositions by Brian Smith, including:

Quiet Are the Nights
Same Place, Different Time
Peace By Piece
Blue and Orange
You Are My Springtime
Holly
Synergy

The evening will be rounded out with a selection of jazz standards, creating a lively musical dialogue between the classical tradition of Chopin and the spontaneity and creativity of jazz.

Following the concert, guests are invited to enjoy a wine and light reception and continue the evening in the company of the performers and fellow music lovers.

Come experience Chopin in a new light—and discover what happens when three Brians bring classical music and jazz together on one stage.

This is a popular event, purchase tickets HERE

Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. Mr. Ganz shared first prize in the 1989 Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition and was third prize-winner of the 1991 Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competition. He has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony (USA), the National Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia, and the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the conductors he has performed with are Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, Jerzy Semkow and Yoel Levi.

The Washington Post has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” For many years Mr. Ganz has made it his mission to join vivid music making with warmth and intimacy onstage to produce a new kind of listening experience, in which great works come to life with authentic emotional power. As one of Belgium’s leading newspapers, La Libre Belgique, put it, “We don’t have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy.”

In January of 2011 Mr. Ganz began a multi-year project in partnership with the National Philharmonic in which he performed the complete works of Frédéric Chopin at the Music Center at Strathmore. After the inaugural recital, The Washington Post wrote: “Brian Ganz was masterly in his first installment of the
complete works [of Chopin].” This year’s recital, in April, marked the series finale.

At this finale Mr. Ganz was honored to receive from a representative of the Polish government one of Poland’s highest cultural honors, the Medal for Merit to Culture-Gloria Artis.

Mr. Ganz is on the piano faculty at St. Mary’s College of MD, where he is also Artist-in-Residence. In 2021 he retired after 21 years on the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatory.

Brian Smith is a jazz pianist, composer, and performer with over 30 years of professional experience. As a composer, Smith has received significant recognition within the jazz community. He was a finalist in the Baltimore Jazz Composers Showcase, hosted by WYPR’s Andy Bienstock, and a finalist in the Baltimore Jazz Composers Forum in September 2013.

Several of his original jazz compositions are published in The Baltimore Real Book (2007). Smith has composed and arranged original works for the Loyola College Jazz Orchestra and has recorded three CDs with the Cold Spring Jazz Quartet, featuring many of his own compositions and arrangements. His compositional output also extends into classical music; his work Variations and Improvisation on Chopin’s Mazurka in G Minor, Op. 67 No. 2 is scheduled for concert performance by acclaimed classical pianist Brian Ganz on March 1, 2026.

As a performer, Smith has appeared with a wide range of jazz ensembles and performed
extensively at venues throughout the Baltimore metropolitan area, including An die Musik, 49
West, the McManus Theater, IXIA, Artscape, and many others. He studied classical and jazz
piano at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and pursued private classical
piano studies with Brian Ganz. He was also a longtime private student of legendary Washington, D.C., jazz pianist and educator Ron Elliston, whose mentorship profoundly shaped his musical voice.

Brian Smith is currently working on a book of original musical compositions and has written approximately 100 works to date. A retired high school teacher, he now devotes his full time to composition, piano performance, and daily practice. His music reflects a lifelong engagement with the piano and a deep commitment to original creative work. Smith lives in Rockville, Maryland, with his wife, Holly.

Brian Alyiain

Introduced to music at an early age, he began piano lessons at age six before switching to string instruments in high school. Since the 1990s, he has performed throughout Maryland and Delaware at private events, festivals, corporate functions, restaurants, and other venues. One of his former bands specialized in Bossa Nova and Latin jazz and recorded a CD of standards and original music.

He also composes and records music, collaborating with musicians across the U.S. and U.K. He later connected with a fellow jazz enthusiast Brian Smith which led to the formation of  the B&B Jazz Combo.

Visit the Kosciuszko Foundation House in Washington, DC: https://thekf.org/about-us/the-kf-house/washington-dc/