About the Festival

Music that, despite its fleeting nature, leaves a lasting impression on the memory – such will be the seventh edition of the International Music Festival of Central and Eastern Europe Eufonie. This time, the theme is "Afterglows and Afterimages" – a metaphor for subtle illusions and lingering impressions that linger with us long after the lights have faded and the last note has faded. This year's Eufonie is a journey towards the turn of the century, the birth of modernity, and the end of great narratives – including musical ones. From classical masterpieces to modern reinterpretations, from the sacred and meditation to the grotesque and dance, from traditional music to experimentation, the common denominator for this mosaic of styles and genres is similarity, kinship, closeness, and community.

Eufonie is a festival that for seven years has been provoking a rethinking of listening patterns, breaking down stereotypes, and opening new paths for cultural dialogue between neighbors. Each edition represents the interpenetration of tradition and modernity, as well as a shared sense of roots and context, realized in a diversity of styles and idioms. It is an artistic narrative rooted in the concepts of community and memory, which in 2025 particularly emphasizes the emotional and sensual.

Eufonie 2025 coincides with important anniversaries and jubilees. The festival pays tribute to Arvo Pärt on his 90th birthday, commemorates the work of Grażyna Bacewicz's brother, Vytautas Bacevičius, on his 120th birthday, and honors the great master of Romanian music, Georges Enescu, on the 70th anniversary of the composer's death. Gala concerts in Krakow and Warsaw, with the participation of the Romanian Minister of Culture, will also mark the culmination of the Romania-Poland Cultural Season, which we are currently celebrating. Furthermore, the Year of Mikolajus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, a Lithuanian composer and painter raised in Polish culture and language, will highlight the intertwining of music and visual arts, thanks to the close collaboration between the National Cultural Center and its partners in Vilnius.

The festival will open with a unique concert by Olga Pasiecznik and the Equilibrium String Quartet, who will explore the less obvious Polish early Romantic repertoire, singing songs by Chopin, primarily associated with piano music, and playing chamber works by composers known primarily for their opera and vocal music: Stanisław Moniuszko, Józef Elsner, Franciszek Lessel, and Karol Kurpiński. The Chopin track at Eufonie also includes a series of recitals by scholarship holders from the Young Poland program – young pianists who, although at the beginning of their careers, can already boast numerous achievements.

Is music the art of pure sound or a tool for storytelling? Julian Rachlin, Sinfonia Varsovia, and Radosław Szulc will answer this question during the "Experiences: Mendelssohn / Mahler" concert as part of the Eufonie festival. This evening at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera will be a juxtaposition of two contrasting visions of 19th-century instrumental music – from the classical elegance of Mendelssohn to the programmatic narrative of Mahler. The first part will feature Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, performed by the distinguished violinist Julian Rachlin. This work, whose sonic refinement and melodious melody reach unparalleled heights, remains one of the most beautiful examples of Romantic violin music. After intermission, the orchestra will present Gustav Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 1 in D major (Titan) – a programmatic work about a young hero facing adversity.

The 7th International Festival of Central and Eastern European Music "Eufonie" emphasizes building a transnational network of partner institutions, international cultural cooperation, and the mutual promotion of the close, yet for various reasons poorly known, cultures of geographically neighboring countries. This community will be expressed through the participation of distinguished symphonic ensembles from Croatia (the Croatian Radio and Television Orchestra in Zagreb) and Poland (Sinfonia Varsovia, as well as orchestras from the Polish philharmonics – the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, the Krakow Philharmonic, the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice, the Opole Philharmonic, and the Warmia-Masuria Philharmonic in Olsztyn). The entire Festival program also reflects the close collaboration between the National Centre for Culture and institutions not only in Warsaw (the Grand Theatre – National Opera, the National Philharmonic), but also in other Polish cities (MOCAK in Krakow, the Manggha Centre for Japanese Culture, the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music in Lusławice, the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre in Gdańsk, the Philharmonic in Olsztyn), and abroad (the Romanian Aetheneum in Bucharest). The idea of a festival on the move, which is realized in building a network of partnerships and institutional dialogue, is also evident in cooperation with music festivals. This year's edition of Eufonie is the first such strong network of connections between NCK and other