The 1st International Festival "The Central Music Square" in Warsaw

The Central Music Square is a new summer festival in the heart of Warsaw, held at the newly opened Central Square. This world-unique event is organized by Warsaw’s leading musical institutions, which have invited world-renowned artists including Lang Lang, Kate Liu, Sonya Yoncheva, Joyce DiDonato, Jonathan Tetelman, and George Gagnidze. They will perform across 14 festival events on an open-air stage in front of the Palace of Culture and Science from June 19 to July 7, 2026. Detailed ticket pricing information will be announced on March 2 at 10.00 am, with ticket sales launching the same day at noon. A capacity of 3,000 will be prepared for each event.

The festival is an extended "Defilad Square" project which has been running since 2014. World-class stars have confirmed their participation in the Central Music Square, and the invited conductors include Antoni Wit, Krzysztof Urbański, and Bassem Akiki, among others. The Central Music Square aims to become a permanent fixture on Warsaw's cultural calendar — Europe's largest festival that connects institutions, artists, and the public in an open, accessible urban space:

"It all began in 2014 with a 25-meter wooden table placed on Defilad Square, between the Studio Theatre, the Dramatic Theatre, and the Palace of Culture and Science. This table became a symbol of collaboration – it started bringing together artists and city residents. It was a sign of a new, cultural Warsaw based on cooperation rather than competition. In 2019, we transformed Defilad Square into a monumental opera stage, staging an open-air production of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, starring Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna. This event proved that high-caliber, large-scale musical productions can be created right in the heart of Warsaw. The Central Music Square is a natural evolution of that concept", says Roman Osadnik, director of the Studio Theatre, and the festival’s initiator and organizer.

It is worth highlighting that the audience will have the choice between a classic concert experience via the main sound system or using professional wireless headphones. These will offer high-quality audio, individual volume control, and ambient noise reduction within the open urban space.

The festival will bring together Warsaw's most prominent music institutions as both organizers and performers: the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jan Kiepura Masovian Musical Theatre, the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw, the Polish Royal Opera, the Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, the ROMA Musical Theatre, the Syrena Theatre, the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, and the Warsaw Chamber Opera. Their collaboration will showcase the full spectrum of Warsaw's musical life – ranging from symphonic repertoire to opera and musical theatre.

The concert version of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca will feature world-class soloists: Sonya Yoncheva (Tosca), Jonathan Tetelman (Cavaradossi), and George Gagnidze (Scarpia), performing alongside Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir, and the W. Skoraczewski Artos Children's Choir under the baton of Bassem Akiki. The supporting roles will be performed by young soloists selected in collaboration with the Opera Academy of the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera. This exceptional event will be the result of cooperation between several institutions involved in creating the Festival.

One of the greatest figures of the global piano world, Lang Lang, will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, accompanied by the Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw under the baton of Bassem Akiki.

Invited by the Warsaw Chamber Opera, acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will grace this year's edition of the festival as the star of "Mozart Night".

Audiences will be able to enjoy full stage productions of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute (Polish Royal Opera), Emmerich Kálmán’s operetta The Duchess of Chicago (Jan Kiepura Masovian Musical Theatre), the ROMA Musical Theatre’s productions of Pilots and Once, as well as the Syrena Theatre’s musical The Battle for the Throne.

The Jan Kiepura Masovian Musical Theatre will host the concert "Viva la musica!", featuring the winners of the Jan Kiepura Theatrical Music Awards to celebrate the 20th edition of the Award.

The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by its artistic director Krzysztof Urbański, will perform Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" and Fryderyk Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, featuring Chopin Competition laureate Kate Liu as the soloist.

The Jerzy Semkow Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, conducted by Wojciech Rodek, will present ":Music of the Silver Screen". In recognition of the work and achievements of one of Poland's most outstanding directors, and to mark the year of Andrzej Wajda, the program will feature newly arranged music from his films, as well as the famous movie soundtrack compositions.

The "Chopin+" concert will feature the Chopin University Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit.

The grand finale of the Festival will be the musical performance Serce ze szkła. Musical ZEN (A Heart of Glass. A ZEN Musical), performed by Maria Peszek, Jan Peszek, and the acting ensemble of the Studio Theatre — the festival's organizer.

"As the host of the Palace of Culture and Science and the Central Square, I am delighted that the first edition of the Central Music Square will take place right here. It is an honor for us to welcome an event of this type and world-class artists to the very heart of Warsaw", says Katarzyna Osowiecka, President of the Palace of Culture and Science.

"Through this most beautiful of arts, the "Central Music Square" strengthens Warsaw's position as a modern, European cultural metropolis, and unites the artistic community around the idea of bringing music into public spaces. The organizers have ensured affordable ticket prices to make the festival accessible to a wide audience.

"The Central Music Square is a project that brilliantly demonstrates the power of collaboration among Warsaw's cultural institutions. As local authorities, we consistently invest in high-quality culture that is available in public spaces and open to a broad audience. The fact that the most prominent Warsaw orchestras and musical theatres will share an open-air stage with such artists as Lang Lang, Sonya Yoncheva, or Joyce DiDonato confirms that Warsaw is truly a European capital of culture today. I am delighted that we can co-create and co-finance an event that unites the artistic community and builds residents' pride in the cultural life of our city", says Aldona Machnowska-Góra, Deputy Mayor of Warsaw.

The Festival is held under the patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

Honorary patronage over the event is held by the Mayor of Warsaw, the Marshal of the Masovian Voivodeship, the Director of the National Institute of Music and Dance, the Director of the National Centre for Culture, and the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Republic of Poland. The event has also been granted the corporate patronage of Polish Radio, with a special emphasis on the role of Polish Radio’s Program 2, which serves as a co-organizer of the festival.

Detailed program available at: https://centralnyplacmuzyki.pl/pl/