Before we hear the sounds of Eufonie 2026, let us return to the impressions from the concert halls from a few months ago, preserved in our memories, lingering behind our eyelids and captured in photographs.

Eufonie 2025 featured outstanding artists – soloists, orchestras, composers and choirs from Poland and Europe – co-creating the panorama of Central and Eastern European music. Three weeks, ten cities and concerts whose “afterglows and afterimages” will remain with us for a long time. Last year’s edition of the Eufonie Festival took listeners from the turn of the twentieth century, through the birth of modernity, to the end of great narratives.

The concerts’ afterglows and afterimages

The festival opened with a concert by Olga Pasiecznik with the Equilibrium String Quartet, presenting a less familiar early Romantic repertoire: Chopin’s songs and chamber works by Moniuszko, Elsner, Lessel and Kurpiński. Among the most important events was a concert by the Lithuanian violinist Julian Rachlin at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera. Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion was placed in dialogue with works by Balkan composers Berislav Šipuš and Frano Parać, as well as works by the Estonian master Arvo Pärt. The festival also showcased a living musical tradition through the Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski’s project Makedonissimo.

The programme also provided an opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of Arvo Pärt, Georges Enescu and Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. The seventh edition took place during the Chopin Competition year, always a special time for music lovers in Poland. To mark the occasion, the programme also included a series of nine free Chopin recitals performed by young pianists, recipients of the Young Poland scholarship programme.

Altersounds

There were also concerts for lovers of alternative sounds: Polski Piach performed new arrangements of musical themes from Reksio. The programme also featured Hatti Vatti’s new album Zeit and the premiere of material from Stefan Wesołowski’s forthcoming album Song of the Night Mists.

Little Eufonie

For the youngest audiences, Little Eufonie presented four concerts in the Royal Łazienki Park, featuring educational activities and rhythmic exercises using idiophones.

Afterglows and afterimages in photographs

The motto of last year’s festival evoked subtle illusions and lasting impressions that remain in the memory long after the final note has faded. Those afterimages were also captured in photographs by Grzegorz Karkoszka and Rafał Kudyba.

You can see them all in our Photo Gallery.