Home 
Music has always had a special place in the programme of the Miłosz Festival. This year’s edition of one of the most important poetry events in this part of Europe will be no different. Between the 6th and 9th of June, you will have an opportunity to enjoy the Sejny Theatre Klezmer Orchestra performance with Mikołaj Trzaska, along with Michał Górczyński’s trio performing a jazz concert dedicated to William Blake, as well as poetic-punk SIKSA and Landschaft experimental duo.
The Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre, the unique scenery of the Barbican and on the alternative stage of the Alchemia Club are all where the Miłosz Festival will provide the best sound environment for a rich programme that will fill the four festival days. After meetings with authors, panel discussions and workshops, we will give you some time to catch your breath. Before you sit down comfortably in the festival clubs, take part in the musical events of the Miłosz Festival!
The concert stream starts on Friday, 7th of June at 9:30 p.m. at the National Old Theatre with a concert dedicated to William Blake. The musical version of the English poems by an author considered by some to be one of the “cursed poets” will be presented by a trio encompassing: Sean Palmer (vocals), Tomek Wiracki (piano) and Michał Górczyński (contrabass clarinet and looper). Their album – William’s Things – was recognised by Polish critics, who listed it among the most important records of 2018. The artists themselves describe the sound interpretation of the Romantic poet as: “A ritual of sound and persistence, juxtaposed with William Blake’s poetry, taking hearing to infinity. Looped sounds bring the musician into a certain state, like a stream, sounds of forest or birds, taking them to a poetic place so that they can create their own notes in solitude. Things and paintings left by William Blake are the starting point of communication with the spirit of the great artist. The longing for a different time, whether past or future, is expressed in trembling, which in poetry is a change of letter, and in music is the beginning and the end of sound.”
On the 8th of June, the Sejny Theatre Klezmer Orchestra will play within the walls of the Barbican in Krakow with Mikołaj Trzaska. The orchestra comprises young people, working with the “Borderland of Arts, Cultures and Nations” Foundation and Centre in multicultural town of Sejny, where one should look for the sources of their music. It is there that the history of their creation intersects with the biography of Czesław Miłosz, who spent his childhood in the village of Krasnogruda, which can be found in the same municipality. “Today the Orchestra comprises the next generation of musicians fascinated by klezmer music. Many of them power the Warsaw music scene. Meetings with Mikołaj Trzaska and Raphael Rogiński, who have visited the ‘Sejny Jazz Cooperative’ in recent years, resulted in a new sound of Jewish music in Sejny. Mikołaj Trzaska is one of the most important freejazz musicians, playing with the best musicians in the world. He composed music for Wojciech Smarzowski’s films and theatre plays. “The most important thing is to work with the right people”, he said about the collaboration with the Klezmer Orchestra. Together with Trzaska, these “right people” recorded the soundtrack for Volhynia, which won the Eagle Award – the most important prize of the Polish film industry – in 2017. Join us for the performance of the Sejny Theatre Klezmer Orchestra, featuring Mikołaj Trzaska on Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
“If I can’t dance to it, it’s not my revolution!” – the motto of this year’s OFF stream of the Miłosz Festival, based on the works by Emma Goldman, resulted in the invitation of the SIKSA duo, who have this to say about themselves: “Perhaps a concert, perhaps a monodrama, certainly not a project, but certainly ‘great’ fun, along with running thoughts. Mouthy literature shouted to bass lines, spat out here and now by non-actress and non-musician… and if Polish culture is a cake, SIKSA is a bulimic.” It is worth experiencing this musical experience, but consider yourself warned – it might cause some emotional damage. The concert will take place in the Alchemia Club on Friday, the 7th of June, at 8:00 p.m., and will be preceded by a conversation about the loud, shouted poetry of SIKSA, starting at 6:00 p.m. Shortly afterwards, around 9:00 p.m., Alchemia Club will host the Ukrainian-German duo Landschaft. The works by Grigory Semenchuk and Ulrike Almut Sandig offer an unusual mix – they juxtapose their poems with hip-hop music, electropunk and pop. In the vapours of dense, claustrophobic sounds, they present a generational rebellion.
The Miłosz Festival will offer the listeners a true musical feast, and we promise that everybody will find something for themselves. Join us in Krakow from the 6th to the 9th of June!
Tickets for the concert of Michał Górczyński’s trio and the Sejny Theatre Klezmer Orchestra at 20 PLN, as well as discounted tickets at 14 PLN, will are available from eventim.pl and seven InfoKraków Tourist Information Points: św Jana 2, Szpitalna 25, Józefa 7, at the Wyspiański Pavilion (Wszystkich Świętych 2), at the Cloth Hall (Rynek Główny 1/3), at the Tourist Services Centre (Powiśle 11) at the ICE Kraków Congress Centre (Marii Konopnickiej 17).
Tickets are available for sale HERE.
Admission to the Siksa and Landschaft concerts will be free of charge.
The Miłosz Festival is organised by the City of Krakow, Krakow Festival Office and the City of Literature Foundation.
