The 3rd Edition of the Rywka Tiktiner Jewish Music Festival in Tykocin begins on May 10

During four weekends in May, the Tykocin Synagogue will host outstanding artists from Poland, Slovenia, and Australia during the 3rd Rywka Tiktiner Jewish Music Festival. The event is organized by the Mieczysław Weinberg Institute and the Warsaw Theatre Society between May 10 and  31, 2026. Admission to all concerts and accompanying events is free of charge.

Intimate concerts by chamber ensembles offer audiences the rare opportunity to witness musical dialogue and partnership, and to immerse themselves fully in the emotions of the music.

The festival opens on May 10 with a concert featuring Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4, and Mieczysław Weinberg's Chamber Symphony No. 3, Op. 151, performed by a string sextet: Anna Maria Staśkiewicz and Maria Sławek (violins), Artur Rozmysłowicz and Katarzyna Budnik (violas), Marcin Zdunik and Rafał Kwiatkowski (cellos).

The following weekend, on May 16, the festival welcomes mezzo-soprano Olga Rusin and pianist Grzegorz Wierus. Their programme includes Viktor Ullmann's Drei jiddische Lieder, Op. 53, Weinberg's Jüdische Lieder, Op. 13, Dmitri Shostakovich's From Jewish Folk Poetry, Op. 79, No. 3 (Lullaby), and Weinberg's Gypsy Bible, Op. 57 (Der Shifer).

On 24 May, the Fudala/Rot Duo — Wojciech Fudala (cello) and Michał Rot (piano) — will perform Anton Rubinstein's Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 18, Ernest Bloch's Three Scenes from Jewish Life, Weinberg's Sonata No. 1, Op. 21, and Bloch's Baal Shem suite in an arrangement by Wojciech Fudala himself.

The closing event takes place on Sunday May 31, featuring Maya Horvat — third-prize laureate of the 2nd International Mieczysław Weinberg Competition in Katowice — and pianist Joseph Havlat. The programme includes Weinberg's Sonata No. 5, Op. 53, Karol Szymanowski's Kurpian Songs (arr. by Joseph Havlat), and Shostakovich's Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 134.

"We look back on last year's concerts with pride and joy. We remember the shared wonder — of artists and audiences alike — the magnificent acoustics and the warm atmosphere that filled the synagogue on those spring evenings. I am certain it will be just as beautiful this year", says Maria Sławek, the curator of the festival.

The festival also includes accompanying events: a guided tour of the Great Synagogue (May 10 ) and a meeting with Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota — writer, journalist, editor, translator, philosopher, and expert on Jewish women (May 31).

"The festival is a celebration, an extraordinary gathering to which we invite the residents of Tykocin, visitors, and those who find themselves here by chance and are briefly held by this remarkable place, its culture and history. We believe that the open format of the festival and the superb acoustics of the synagogue will allow Jewish music to resound magnificently — to linger in the memory and inspire a desire to discover more", adds Lilianna Krych, co-curator of the festival.

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (the "Muzyka" program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance).

Partners: Podlaskie Museum in Białystok, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Society of Authors, ZAiKS, STOART, Villa Regent, Fortepiany Otwock.

Honorary patronage: POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Jewish Art Institute,  Social Museum of Jews of Białystok and the Region

Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.

More information: https://tiktiner.pl/