Sinfonia Varsovia – New Opening
Our newly refurbished venue reopens on Grochowska Street
11–27 September 2026
Over 100 events, including symphony and chamber concerts, recitals, family attractions, performance art, and an exhibition, are set to mark the grand reopening of Sinfonia Varsovia’s newly upgraded venue at 272 Grochowska Street in Warsaw this September. With its refurbished facilities, unique formats, and renewed energy, the Orchestra’s home is ready to dazzle the audience.
Come, see, and listen for yourself! Held from 11 to 17 September 2026, Sinfonia Varsovia – New Opening Festival will revolve around three core ideas: music, spaces, and people, offering the audience a chance to experience music and other arts in the Orchestra’s transformed venue in the spirit of interpenetration and openness.
Music
Sinfonia Varsovia – New Opening Festival will open with a weekend filled with free, outdoor symphony concerts held in a concert tent on the Orchestra’s premises. On Friday, 11 September, Radosław Szulc will lead Sinfonia Varsovia in a world premiere of Piotr Peszat’s PSV4 for gamepad solo, orchestra, electronic music, audio playback, and video, featuring Aleksander Wnuk as soloist. The programme also includes a rendition of Kilar’s Orawa, marking 40 years since the piece’s first performance by the Polish Chamber Orchestra in 1986, Gershwin’s Blue Rhapsody with Makoto Ozone on the piano, and Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra. On Sunday, 13 September, the Festival will welcome pianists Aleksander Dębicz, Hyuk Lee, and Kasia Pietrzko. Christopher Austin will conduct Sinfonia Varsovia and the soloists in Bacewicz’s Overture for Symphonic Orchestra, Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, Szpilman’s Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, Lutosławski’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini for piano and orchestra, and a special symphonic arrangement of David Bowie’s Warszawa, devised by Christopher Austin specifically for the Festival. On Saturday, 12 September, the Sinfonia Varsovia Brass will treat the audience to a programme of jazz, popular music, and classical pieces arranged for a brass band.
The following weekend will feature more intimate concerts, with Sinfonia Varsovia’s own musicians stepping into the limelight. The string formations will perform twice under the direction of concertmasters Adam Siebers (18 September) and Jakub Haufa (20 September). The woodwinds will also take to the stage on 20 September. The programme of the strings’ Friday and Sunday concerts will feature two respective pieces commissioned by Yehudi Menuhin, the founder of Sinfonia Varsovia. Malcolm Arnold’s Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra will be performed by Adam Siebers and Zofia Endzelm as soloists, whilst the solo part in Andrzej Panufnik’s Violin Concerto will be performed by Jakub Haufa. Zuzanna Elster will appear as the soloist in Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane for harp and strings. The highlight of the weekend will be the Saturday concert featuring Krzysztof Jabłoński, prize-winner and jury member of the Warsaw Chopin Competition, who will perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor accompanied by Sinfonia Varsovia under Jakub Haufa on 19 September. The pianist will also give a solo recital at noon on Sunday, 20 September.
Spaces
During the Festival, the newly transformed spaces of Sinfonia Varsovia’s home will fill with visual artworks and performance art. The Polyphonies exhibition embodies the organisation’s openness to the interplay of diverse voices: a convergence of the Orchestra’s mastery and the institution’s international reputation with a keen attentiveness to the needs of the local community. Housed in three revitalised buildings of the former Veterinary Institute, the exhibition will tell the story of the site’s history, its transformation, and its future.
From 11 September, visitors to the venue will have a chance to admire a jacquard by Patrycja Orzechowska, a sound and spatial installation by Wojtek Blecharz and Ewa Maria Śmigielska, an abstract portrait of Sinfonia Varsovia by Tymek Borowski, sound compositions by Daniel Brożek, and photographs by Agnieszka Rayss, depicting the buildings just before renovation work began. The exhibition will open with a performance created by Zorka Wollny in collaboration with Sinfonia Varsovia’s musicians and administrative staff. The exhibition is curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek.
People
Sinfonia Varsovia – New Opening Festival will also feature a range of educational events, workshops, and community-oriented activities for various audiences, allowing the public to play an active role in shaping the Festival.
The programme embraces a multitude of concerts for young audiences, including the much-loved Smykofonie and symphony concerts featuring Bazylek the dragon, accessibility events, nature walks, sound walks, and architectural tours, music and art workshops, word games led by the Loesje Polska Foundation, and performances by the Klancyk Improvisation Theatre and the NaDęte workshop group, among others. We will also be joining forces with our partner organisations: the PACA 40 Action Space, the Praga Museum of Warsaw, and the Konopacki Palace.
Mad About Music: The New Opening
After 15 editions at the Polish National Opera, Mad About Music festival changes its format to move to Sinfonia Varsovia’s home on Grochowska Street. The 2026 edition will take place from 22 to 27 September and will form part of Sinfonia Varsovia – New Opening Festival. This year, Mad About Music recitals, chamber and family concerts will take place in Sinfonia Varsovia’s newly refurbished spaces, while the orchestral concerts will be held in the concert tent on its premises.
As tradition has it, young performers representing ten music schools from across Poland will showcase their talents on the Festival’s main stage. We will also welcome guest appearances by noted symphony and chamber ensembles, such as Sinfonia Iuventus, the NeoQuartet, the Chopin University Big Band and the Chopin University Batucada, the Quatuor Elmire, and the Elias Vollmer Trio. International guests include clarinettist Raphaël Sévère, violinists Diana Adamyan and Manon Galy, cellist Edgar Moreau, pianists Célia Oneto Bensaid, Nathanaël Gouin, David Kadouch, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, harpsichord player Pierre Hantaï, flautist Mattteo Cesari, soprano Raquel Camarinha, and conductors Pier Carlo Orizio and Jean-François Verdier.
The festival programme will also feature sensory-friendly concerts, held in an environment designed to ensure a comfortable listening experience. These will be complemented by an ambient zone: a space for relaxation and tranquillity open to all attendees.
Practical Information
Ticket Sales
Online:
In Person (272 Grochowska Street):
- 18 August and 1 September: Box Office at Sinfonia Varsovia (272 Grochowska St.), 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- On event days: 60 minutes prior to each ticketed concert (until the start of the final ticketed event, subject to availability)
Reservations:
- Group Bookings (10+ tickets): zamowieniagrupowe@eventim.pl | tel. +48 884 209 706
- Wheelchair Accessible Seating: Please contact the organizer in advance at bilety@sinfoniavarsovia.org | tel. +48 885 550 597 or +48 789 631 871
Categories of concerts and events
Orchestral – Concerts featuring a symphony or chamber orchestra. Sometimes the ensemble is joined by a soloist or soloists.
Chamber – Concerts by small ensembles, in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental configurations.
Recital – A concert by a single performer or by a soloist with accompaniment.
Family – Chamber and orchestral concerts for whole families, with children in various age groups.
Young Performers – Concerts by ensembles from music schools across Poland.
