Aural jubilee

The eyes of the contemporary music world will be on Poland's capital from September 21-29 as the 50th Warsaw Autumn festival showcases stars from the contemporary music scene.

"This is one of the largest festivals of contemporary music and one of the oldest," said Tadeusz Wielecki, the festival's director. He underlined that the festival's formula is unique. "It's an overview of contemporary music, both of current trends as well as the classics," he said. Wielecki also noted that a lot of classic pieces from the second part of the 20th century were heard in Poland for the first time thanks to the festival.

The festival has been held annually since 1956 (with the exception of 1982, when it was cancelled due to Marshal Law). Under communism it was perceived as a "hole in the iron curtain" as the strict rules of socialist realism didn't apply and it remained a place where artists could freely express creative ideas.

Today the festival is a breeding ground for artistic innovation and avant-garde stylings. Apart from the classic format of concerts, guests will be able to take in sound installations and non-traditional audio-visual performances in venues atypical of this type of festival. "The concerts will not only take place at the Warsaw Philharmonic concert hall, but also in churches, theaters and in uncommon places for contemporary music such as post-industrial buildings," Wielecki said, referring to the Warsaw International Expo Centre, in the Koneser Distillery and in club M25.

"The greatest artists will perform at this year's festival," Wielecki said. Among those performing in Warsaw this month will be the conductor Arturo Tamayo, trombonist Mike Svoboda and the Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg.