It is not often that we get to write about festivals starting their sixth decade - but this time around we get to showcase one of such events! As always, the programme of the Music in Old Cracow Festival is packed with outstanding artists - from Piotr Pawlak, a representative of the younger generation who captivated the audience at the last Chopin Competition, to Lidia Grychtołówna, who has been enchanting audiences behind the keyboard for over 70 years.

Early music aficionados will certainly enjoy what the organisers have in store for them. The Royal Rorantists will showcase works from Seville Cathedral (Pedro de Escobar) and Kraków Cathedral (Krzysztof Borek), the Musica con Grazia ensemble will take us to the walls of 17th-century Piarist monasteries, the Kraków Viol Consort will take us to the Earthly Paradise and to England during the reign of the first Stuarts, whilst the harpsichordists Elżbieta Stefańska and Mariko Shioya will invite us to an evening with Bach and Handel – The Meeting That Never Was. The NOSPR String Quartet and the Kraków Wind Quintet will perform a chamber concerto, we will also listen to the voices of Triplum and Sei Terre. Starck Compagnay will bring the whole event to a close with the triumphant sounds of the Baroque brass.

As the festival’s name suggests, the concerts will take place in venues including the courtyard of Collegium Maius, St. Mary’s Basilica and the many churches of the Augustinians, the Piarists and the Carmelites, as well as the Kraków Philharmonic Hall, co-organiser of some of this year’s events.