Kuchta, Adam

Born and lived in Bukowina Tatrzańska [ENE of Zakopane]; He was brought up by his mother and relatives (His father died during World War II as an airman of a Polish squadron in England); As a 12-year-old he played in a school band, and became a multi-instrumentalist in the Podhale Song and Dance Ensemble; He played the Gęśle (the regional pochette fiddle), bass, violin, Dudy, flutes and Róg (short pastoral horn); He traveled with the band to numerous national and international performances in the USSR, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, USA, &c.; As a soloist, he often participated in international festivals, such as "Jesień Tatrzańska" [Tatra Autumn]; He was not only a talented instrumentalist (In 1969 and 1970 he won some awards), but also a collector and maker of regional musical instruments, who broadened his knowledge by using museum materials and patterns; Innovation and perfect mastery led him to create his own characteristic style; Several museums in Poland have instruments made by him, mainly Dudy, Gęśle, flutes, and violins; He won many awards (In 1972 he received the first prize for bagpipes made for the Podhale, Spisz, Pienin and Orava Folk Art Contest in Nowy Targ) and also passed his musical and artistic skills on to his two sons, Zygmunt (*1960?) and ??? (*?), and other youngsters in Bukowina and other villages of Podhale ["Under the alp"], which is the Polish name for the Tatra mountain region; He also worked with metal and leather, making shepherd belts and buckles, small leather haberdashery, &c.; From 1957 he cooperated with "Cepelia", a state chain of [folk] art stores, the name of which represents the pronunciation of the acronym CPLiA (Centrala Przemysłu Ludowego i Artystycznego [Production Centre of Objects of Folk Handicraft and Art]).