Chopin's music carries worldwide values - deputy Culture Minister

The beauty and values contained in Fryderyk Chopin's music are close to artists and listeners worldwide, Polish Deputy Culture Minister Jaroslaw Sellin said in the Estonian capital Tallinn on Sunday

Sellin, who arrived in Tallinn on Sunday, attended a gala concert closing Estonia's 12th International Chopin Competition, which took place in Narva, the country's third-largest city.

"The International Chopin Competition in Narva is magnificent testimony to the truth that high culture brings nations closer together, and that the beauty and values contained in Frederic Chopin's works are close to artists and listeners worldwide despite his work being so strongly marked by his individuality," Sellin said.

Sellin also awarded the competition winner, 11-year-old Timofei Starovoitov from Russia, with the Grand Prix - a tour of Chopin-related sites in Poland.

Held at the turn of January and February, the 7-day Chopin festival in Narva is co-sponsored by Poland's Fryderyk Chopin Institute and Foundation for the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin. Its standing media patron is Polish Radio 2.