The 38th Krakow International Festival of Composers

The main theme of the 38th Krakow International Festival of Composers, which will take place on May 9-17, 2026, is "Music in the Face of the Changes in the Modern World". The impressive program includes 9 concerts featuring music by composers from Poland, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the USA, as well as China, South Korea, and Japan. It will feature 21 world premieres, 18 Polish premieres, and a musicology session. The main organizer of the Festival is the Krakow branch of the Polish Composers' Union. Admission is free!

The special guest of the festival will be the acclaimed Japanese composer based in the United Kingdom, Dai Fujikura. February this year saw the premiere of his fourth opera, The Great Wave, about the life of Katsushika Hokusai, commissioned by the Scottish Opera. On May 11, Fujikura will deliver a lecture titled "Close Collaboration with Soloists" and lead masterclasses for composition students at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow. His works will be performed by, among others, the Quasars Ensemble from Slovakia (May 9, during the Festival's opening concert) and the Italian cellist Michele Marco Rossi (May 11).

The 80th birthday of Józef Rychlik will be celebrated at a meeting with the composer held on May 15, combined with the promotion of the book Józef Rychlik and His Music by Agnieszka Draus. The meeting will be hosted by Magdalena Chrenkoff, Editor-in-Chief of Penderecki Academy Press.

The program of the duoAccosphere and LLLeggiero Woodwind Trio concert on May 10 will include, among others, a work by young composer Alina Dzięcioł, who was awarded the Grand Prize at this year's 9th Krzysztof Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers. The concert will be preceded by the official reading of the jury's verdict and the presentation of diplomas to the laureates.

The enthusiasts of electroacoustic music will have a chance to enjoy the Festival's traditional presentation by the Electroacoustic Music Studio of the Academy of Music, titled "Electronic Cocktail" (May 13).

The festival will conclude with a performance of the acclaimed Italian duo: Monica Benvenuti (voice) and Francesco Giomi (electronics). This special concert will be dedicated to the works of the eminent Italian composer Sylvano Bussotti, commemorating the 95th anniversary of his birth and the 5th anniversary of his death.

The musicology session will feature presentations by music theorists associated with the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow: Małgorzata Janicka-Słysz, Mateusz Bień, Marcin Strzelecki, and Dominika Micał.

The General and Artistic Director of the Festival - Prof. Marcel Chyrzyński, PhD, President of the Krakow branch of the Polish Composers' Union.

The event is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund ("Music" program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance), and by the City of Krakow.

Monika Szpyrka's work In-Caring was commissioned by the Festival as part of the "Composers' Commissions" program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance.

The opening concert is financed by the Slovak Arts Council, with financial support from the Slovak Institute in Warsaw.

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

Detailed program available at: https://festiwal.zkp.krakow.pl/