First - Ever Chicago Philharmonic Festival: Poland 2018

Highlights of this five-day festival include a Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra concert featuring works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Karol Szymanowski, Andrzej Panufnik, and Frederic Chopin at the Copernicus Center. Featured in this orchestral performance is the young piano virtuoso Łukasz Krupiński, performing Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante by Chopin and one of “the greatest Polish piano achievements,” Paderewski’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Pre-concert entertainment will be presented by eminent local organization, the Lira Ensemble singers.

Also a part of the festival is Wojciech Kilar’s Missa Pro Pace (Mass for Peace)  for orchestra, organ, choir, and soloists, which will be performed at historic St. Hyacinth Basilica and led by outstanding Polish conductor Marek Moś, Conductor, Artistic Director of the AUKSO chamber orchestra who has received numerous awards including the Contemporary Music Competition in Krakow (1979), the UNESCO International Tribune in Paris (1984, 1988), the Polish Composers’ Union Prize (1994, 2005) and the Ministry of Culture’s ‘Gloria Artist’ silver award (2005). The Chicago Philharmonic will also be joined by members of the Paderewski Symphony Chorus

The festival will also feature guest performances by Poland-based, internationally-renowned artists including the acclaimed Fryderyk Award and 2017 Gramophone Classical Music Award-winning Silesian Quartet, presenting a concert of all contemporary works. Also featured as a soloist is Polish jazz pianist and composer Piotr Orzechowski, who was the first Polish 1st Prize winner of the legendary Swiss Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition. Additionally, the festival will feature an organ recital by Academy of Music and noted Kraków organ professor Andrzej Białko, who has recorded multiple albums with Polish record label Dux Records.

November 7, 7:30pm
Silesian Quartet
Fourth Presbyterian Church

November 8, 7:30pm
Andrzej Białko, Organ
St. John Cantius Church

November 9, 8pm
Piotr Orzechowski, Jazz Piano
Polish Museum of America

November 10, 7:30pm
Celebrate Polonia
Copernicus Center

November 11, 1:30pm
Concert for Peace
St. Hyacinth Basilica

Tickets
$25 – $75  |  Students from $10
Concert for Peace: Free (Tickets required)

Festival Packages
Save with festival passes for all 5 concerts,
plus receive additional subscriber benefits
$89 – $116