Poland celebrating 200th birthday of composer Chopin

Poland is celebrating the 200th birthday of the country's pride, composer Frederic Chopin. Festivities include a week-long marathon of recitals of his music, a commemorative bank note, and a new state-of-the-art museum.

Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin's monument is displayed in the  gardens of a museum in Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw, March 1, 2010. Poland is celebrating the 200th birthday of Chopin, one of its most famous sons. The museum was previously the birthplace and home of the Polish composer.REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Internationally famed pianists including China's Lang Lang, are playing to packed concert halls. On Monday, a refurbished, multi-media museum devoted to Chopin's life, opened its doors.

In addition, a new concert hall has opened on the renovated estate where Chopin was born to a Polish mother and French father 200 years ago.

Chopin left Poland at the age of 20 and spent most of his adult life in Paris. But he remained a staunch patriot and his work is infused with nostalgia for his homeland.