This year’s edition is particularly significant as it marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Franciszek Wybrańczyk – founder and long-time director of the Polish Chamber Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia – which falls on May 31, 2026. On that very same day, at the Auditorium of the Polish History Museum, the festival’s grand opening will take place, during which Sinfonia Varsovia will be conducted by Radosław Szulc. The evening will be framed by works that draw on the history of American music: the concert will open with the overture to Bernstein’s operetta Candide, and the second half will feature Dvořák’s famous Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World. The centerpiece of the program will be Friedrich Gulda’s unique work – Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra. This five-movement piece combines influences of jazz (and at times even rock), Austrian folk music, and the traditions of classical European music. The soloist will be world-class cellist Julian Steckel – winner of the Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition in Warsaw in 2003 and the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in 2010.
The Beloved A Different Point of Hearing Concerts are Back
Sinfonia Varsovia was the first institution in Poland to introduce a concert format that allows the audience to sit inside the orchestra. This year, as part of the Sinfonia Varsovia to Its City festival, A Different Point of Hearing concerts will return for the third time. The three-part format allows the audience to change seats and listen to the music from different perspectives – including sitting side by side with the performing artists. The program for the concerts on June 6 and 7 (a repeat performance) at the Sinfonia Varsovia’s Concert Pavilion will feature masterpieces of classical music from the second half of the 18th century to the early 20th century: works by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bizet, Sibelius, Debussy, and Ravel. The orchestra will be conducted by Piotr Jaworski.
Previous editions of A Different Point of Hearing concerts in 2024 and 2025 were met with exceptional enthusiasm from the audience. A video featuring participants from last year’s event can be watched on Sinfonia Varsovia’s YouTube channel.
The Polish Premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s Latest Composition
The festival’s closing concert will take place on June 14 at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio. The program, inspired by the night, will take listeners to a world of dreams – featuring Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Mussorgsky’s symphonic poem Night on Bald Mountain. The highlight of the evening will be the Polish premiere of Roxanna Panufnik’s Double Concerto for Oboe and English Horn, Lunar Solar. The piece’s narrative unfolds through a cycle of sunrises and sunsets (symbolized by the oboe) as well as moonrises and moonsets (symbolized by the English horn), weaving a musical tale of their interplay. The work was commissioned by the Liverpool Philharmonic and written for two of the orchestra’s musicians: oboist Helena Mackie and hornist Drake Gritton. Its world premiere will be presented by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Domingo Hindoyan on June 11, 2026. Three days later, the piece will be performed in Warsaw by Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Aleksandar Marković, featuring the orchestra’s soloists – Paulina Sochaj (oboe) and Arkadiusz Krupa (English horn).
