21st International Music Festival “Chopin and His Europe” - "Begin with Bach""B

The 21st International Music Festival “Chopin and His Europe” will take place from 20 August to 6 September 2025 under the theme: "Begin with Bach".
The festival program will feature 29 concerts with outstanding soloists, orchestras, and chamber ensembles invited by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.

To mark the 340th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s birth, his works will be performed throughout the festival by artists such as Fabio Biondi, Roel Dieltiens, Władysław Kłosiewicz, and Krzysztof Chorzelski. The music of Fryderyk Chopin will be presented in the broader context—from Bach to Lutosławski—highlighting the evolution of musical expression. The festival will showcase Polish and European music interpreted in two stylistic approaches: historically informed performance and modern interpretation.

On 21 August, Sinfonia Varsovia conducted by Bassem Akiki will perform Karol Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 4 (Symphonie concertante).
On 24 August, AUKSO Orchestra under Marek Moś, together with cellist Andrzej Bauer, will present an exciting discovery: a previously unknown version of Lutosławski’s Partita for Cello.
The concert on 5 September, featuring violist Krzysztof Chorzelski (of the Belcea Quartet) and pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, will include Andrzej Czajkowski’s Sonata for Viola and Piano. Czajkowski was a laureate of the 1955 International Chopin Piano Competition.

The festival will also spotlight Polish participants of the upcoming Chopin Competition, offering audiences a preview of the next generation of talent. Alongside them, several winners and finalists of past editions will return to the stage: Dang Thai Son, Yulianna Avdeeva, and Bruce Liu, as well as acclaimed laureates Ingrid Fliter, Eric Lu, Kate Liu, Aimi Kobayashi, Kyohei Sorita, and the legendary Ivo Pogorelić.

The festival will also welcome laureates of historical instrument competitions, including Tomasz Ritter, Dmitry Ablogin, and Martin Nöbauer.

The festival is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

Detailed programme: https://festiwal.nifc.pl/pl/2025/kalendarium