This concert has been moved from 18 January 2022. Tickets bought for January remain valid for the new date.

The programme planned for the special concert of the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir reflects its own response to the events we have borne witness to in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, a date when the stability and security of our modern world was shattered. Tonight’s repertoire is not only intended as a musical call for peace (Pärt – Da pacem Domine, Vasks – Dona nobis pacem) and an act of remembrance for the victims – men, women and children – of Russian acts of aggression against Ukraine (Ešenvalds – In paradisum, Elgar – Lux aeterna) – but above all else it is a reminder that music, as a universal language, unites people regardless of the divisions created by geographical borders, age, ethnic origin and religion.

Performed on the stage of the Warsaw Philharmonic today will be works by composers from Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, that is nations that wish to live side by side in a world of peace and security. We will hear music by well-established and award-winning composers (Pärt, Vasks, Miškinis, Sylvestrov, Dyczko) as well as the younger generation , for whom war has become a first-hand experience for the first time (Urbaniak, Ziółkowski, Ešenvalds). We will hear pieces based on biblical texts, compositions infused with Catholicism and the Orthodox faith (Dyczko), as well as others inspired by the universal philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore (Miškinis) or constituting a bridge between the sacred and the prophane (Lux aeterna as an arrangement of one of the most famous themes – Nimrod – from Edward Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations).

Also worth mentioning is the diversity of the programme – ranging from the stylistically distinctive compositions of Arvo Pärt and Valentin Sylvestrov, and the works of two talented and award-winning young Polish composers Michał Ziółkowski and Łukasz Urbaniak, right through to the music of Lesia Dyczko, Pēteris Vasks, Vytautas Miškinis and Ēriks Ešenvalds, rooted in the musical traditions of their countries of origin and sung by outstanding choirs all over the globe. During tonight’s concert we will hear works performed by varied line-ups – both larger and smaller choirs singing a cappella, as well as solo parts (vocal and instrumental), which together offer a mosaic of sound enriched by the outstanding organ of the Warsaw Philharmonic.

Bartosz Michałowski