26th "Music Gardens" Festival: A Kaleidoscope of Genres at the Royal Castle

From July 6 to August 8, 2026, the concert pavilion in the courtyard of the Royal Castle in Warsaw will host 17 live concerts and 14 opera and film screenings. The 26th "Music Gardens" International Festival will feature performances by Artur Ruciński, TAKE 6, Urszula Dudziak, Krzesimir Dębski, Rafaela Carrasco, pianists Hyuk and Hyo Lee, among others. The program of this unique summer festival will encompass classical and contemporary music, multimedia shows, jazz, and even flamenco.

There will be no shortage of Polish music interpreted by outstanding ensembles and soloists.

During concerts filled with nostalgia and humor, both timeless hits and recently discovered music will be performed. The concert "The Senses Vanished" will take the audience into the world of the Old Gentlemen's Cabaret. The works of Jeremi Przybora and Jerzy Wasowski will gain a new, operatic luster—presented by excellent singers accompanied by the ORFEO Ensemble. The Bastarda ensemble and the AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy, conducted by Marek Moś, will reach for the nigunim of Polish Hasidim. The music of three Hasidic dynasties—Modrzyc, Szapiro, and Koźnic—will serve as a starting point: the themes of their songs without words will undergo transformation in colorful vibrations and improvisations.

Film music will be a powerful current in this year's edition. Krzesimir Dębski will conduct a symphonic concert featuring his most famous compositions from the films With Fire and Sword, An Ancient Tale, In Desert and Wilderness, and Battle of Warsaw 1920. Soloists will also perform musical surprises from the composer's other outstanding productions. Golden Hits of Polish cinema and television, from Nights and Days to 07 Come In, written by the masters of Polish film music—Wojciech Kilar, Jerzy "Duduś" Matuszkiewicz, Waldemar Kazanecki, Adam Walaciński, and Przemysław Gintrowski—will be performed live by the New Philharmonic Orchestra and soloists under the baton of Maciej Sztor. The beloved Heroes Orchestra will also return with video game music, including a world premiere of a piece by its founder, Mateusz Alberski.

For the first time, pianist Illia Ovcharenko—laureate of over 20 piano competitions, including the International Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition in 2021 and the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary in 2022—will participate in "Music Gardens." In his interpretation, we will hear music from the Classical and Romantic eras, including works by Fryderyk Chopin.

"For over two decades, Music Gardens has remained one of the most important events in Warsaw's summer cultural calendar, combining the highest artistic quality with the unique atmosphere of summer evenings in the historic space of the Royal Castle," emphasize the organizers.

The Festival is organized by the Music Gardens Foundation, co-organized by the ORFEO Bogusław Kaczyński Foundation, and the strategic partner of the event is the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund as part of the "Music" program implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

The media patron of the Festival is the Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Detailed program:  https://www.ogrodymuzyczne.pl/program/