What links representatives of the Aurignacian culture which inhabited the Swabian Alb region during the Palaeolithic, the 18th-century King of Prussia Frederick the Great, and Ian Anderson, frontman of Jethro Tull? It’s their love for the same instrument!

This exclusive club also includes the participants in the 9th International Flute Competition organised by the Academy of Music in Kraków, this year dedicated to the memory of Meastro Krzysztof Penderecki. 46 young artists from 15 countries take part in the competition, with the winner selected by an international jury comprising masters of the instrument, including Philippe Bernold, Carlos Bruneel, Peter-Lukas Graf, Urszula Janik-Lipińska, Carlo Jans, Ewa Murawska, Wiesław Suruło and the event’s originator and artistic director Barbara Świątek-Żelazna.

Competition events held at Florianka Recital Hall – opening concert featuring Elise Gastaldi, competition winner in 2011, 1st and 2nd stage reviews, finale  and the laureate concert – are all open to the public.

Post Scriptum
But how do we know that our Palaeolithic ancestors also loved the flute? This fact was discovered by archaeologists studying caves in present-day Germany, where fragments of this instrument (the oldest known to humankind!) were found and dated to over 42 millennia ago…

19 March 2023, 5pm
Florianka Recital Hall
Inauguration concert
Elise Gastaldi – flute
Symphony Orchestra of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków
Tomasz Tokarczyk – conductor
in programme: C.P.E. Bach, A. Jolivet, J. Haydn

20, 21 March 2023, 9am–1pm and 3pm–6pm
22 March 2023, 9am–1pm
Florianka Recital Hall
1st stage review

23 March 2023, 9am–1pm i 3pm–6pm
Florianka Recital Hall
2nd stage review

25 March 2023, 10am–12:30pm and 3pm–6pm
Florianka Recital Hall
Finale accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków under the baton of Maciej Tworek

26 March 2023, 4pm
Florianka Recital Hall
Competition laureates
Chamber Orchestra of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków
Maciej Tworek – conductor
W.A. Mozart Flute Concerto in G major K. 313, part I
K. Penderecki Concerto for flute and chamber orchestra