The 20th International Festival of Improvised Music “Ad Libitum” begins on September 11!

The Ad Libitum Festival, dedicated to the idea of improvisation in music, continues to explore its evolving meanings. Each year it creates new artistic situations, presents unique events, and seeks out fresh territories for collaboration. The central theme of the festival’s 20th edition is “Forms of Presence” — understood broadly, across sonic, physical, and conceptual dimensions. Between 11 and 15 September 2025, 14 concerts will feature 40 artists from Poland and abroad. Admission is free.

Thanks to its long-standing partners, the festival will take place at Pardon, To Tu, Hashtag Lab, the Laboratory and park grounds of the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, and at the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of Polish Radio. The jubilee program reflects the festival’s mission: bringing together artists across generations and backgrounds, and creating a vibrant laboratory for international artistic exchange.

Among the featured performers are leading figures of improvisation, including Lê Quan Ninh, Paul Lytton, and Günter Sommer. The phantom presence of musicians carried through airwaves will be explored by Radio Noise Duo and Tonic Train, ensembles known for their work in radio art. A site-specific improvisation for a custom multichannel speaker system by Aleksandra Słyż and Piotr Peszat will premiere, commissioned through the Composers’ Commissions Programme.

The resident artist of the 20th edition is Axel Dörner, who will lead workshops with young Polish musicians and later perform with them on stage.

The final concert will open with a quartet featuring Axel Dörner, Zofia Ilnicka, Aleksandra Rzepka, and Erhard Hirt – the result of a collaboration with Avant Art Festival and the musicians’ first meeting in Berlin. The festival will conclude with the first-ever Polish performance by the iconic ensemble King Übü Örchestrü.

As Joanna Grotkowska, director of the Polish Music Council Foundation, notes:

“Through genres such as free improvisation, new music, new electronics, sound art, and radio art… we are broadening today’s understanding of musical improvisation.”

The Ad Libitum Festival is organized by the Polish Music Council Foundation.

Co-organizers: Pardon, To Tu, Contemporary Music Space Hashtag Lab, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, and Polish Radio Channel 2.

Partners: Goethe-Institut, Avant Art Festival, Biuro Dźwięku Katowice, ZAiKS.

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Fund for the Promotion of Culture, as part of the “Music” and “Composers’ Commissions” programmes run by the National Institute of Music and Dance. The project is also co-financed by the City of Warsaw.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC

Detailed programme: https://ad-libitum.pl/