The Polish Season in Great Britain, organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in co-operation with the Polish Ministries of Culture and the National Heritage and of Foreign Affairs, will officially open in May 2009 and will continue till May 2010. It will be inaugurated as early as March 2009 with an exhibition in London’s Tate Gallery.

The season’s events will represent various disciplines of art, including graphic arts, music, architecture, design and theatre. The musical part of the Polish Season will commence in April 2009 with Rafał Blechacz’s recital in London, followed a few days later by a concert of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Among the major musical events of the Polish Season, there will be this year’s “Sounds New” Festival of Contemporary Music in Canterbury, dedicated wholly to Polish music (Polish Connections), culminating in a performance of Krzysztof Penderecki’s St Luke Passion in Canterbury Cathedral on 2nd May 2009 (by the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, a Polish choir and soloists, conducted by the composer himself). The Festival will be accompanied by an international conference on "Polish Music since 1945”, held on 30th April – 2nd May 2009. The Season also features projects promoting Polish jazz, such as Tomasz Stańko’s concert tour introducing his newest album, and the Fresco Jazz Festival in Liverpool, dedicated to Polish music. In connection with the bicentenary of Frederic Chopin’s death in 2010, the Polish season will include projects related to that composer’s life and work, e.g. two exhibitions: in the British Library and the National Scottish Library. The Season will close in 2010 with a recital by Krystian Zimerman and a performance of Roman Maciejewski’s famous Requiem by a BBC orchestra and choir.