BAM Affiliation Immensely popular as a concert pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski was also a composer and, among other accomplishments, the Polish Prime Minister after World War I. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Paderewski toured extensively across North America and performed at BAM regularly, both at the old Montague Street site and the 30 Lafayette opera house. After his stint as Prime Minister, he returned to BAM for several recitals in the late 1920s.