The Poland-Romania Season 2025 will begin with the Polish presence at the Classix Festival 2025 in Iasi. On 1 March 2025, Arte dei Suonatori orchestra, specialising in performing Baroque and classical music, will perform a concert titled ‘The Harmony of the Kings: In the Polish Royal Court.’ The parallel Classix in Focus programme features a sound installation ‘Apparatum’ by PanGenerator collective, and VR ‘Dead City’ by Krzysztof Grudziński, which are going to available to viewers since 20 March 2025.

Classix Festival and Classix in Focus 2025 in Iasi

The Classix Festival is a European-level Romanian cultural initiative. The sixth edition of the contemporary classical adventure will take place in Iasi between 23 February and 2 March 2025. The organisers have invited artists willing to exit their comfort zones and enter the world of classical music in an authentic way. In line with this year’s concept – Reveal! – classical music in all of its forms is there to show the power of discovering truths about ourselves, the world, and universal interpersonal connections. The aim of the concerts is to provoke common cultural explorations oscillating around the conviction that music serves every purpose.

On the other hand, events as part of the Classix in Focus bring to the fore themes from the artistic and cultural world, exploring both the aspects directly related to classical music as well as those shaping the creative industry and having impact on present audiences. This cycle aims at creating space for open dialogue, in which artists, culture managers, and professionals from different fields can share their opinions about changes in and challenges posed by the contemporary cultural landscape. The panels are accompanied by lectures, exhibitions, flashmobs, film screenings, and interactive experiences, thus forming a creative centre for ideas and collaboration.

‘The Harmony of the Kings: In the Polish Royal Court’ performed by Arte dei Suonatori

On 1 March 2025, Polish musicians will perform as part of the Classic Festival 2025. The event will start at 19:00 at Victoria Cinema, Unirii Room. Arte dei Suonatori orchestra, specialising in performing Baroque and classical music, will perform a concert titled ‘The Harmony of the Kings: In the Polish Royal Court.’ (‘Baroque Royale’). The performance will offer a chance to rediscover the richness and beauty of 18th-century music. A diverse programme of the concert will feature symphonies as well as oboe, viola and viola da gamba concertos. They were composed of the most prominent artists who enchanted the audiences of Europe back then: Ristori, Hasse, Benda, and Graun.

Arte dei Suonatori, photo: Karolina Sałajczyk

Arte dei Suonatori is one of the leading early music orchestras in Europe, formed over 30 years ago by Aureliusz and Ewa Goliński. Their accomplishments include concerts played all over Europe and more than 20 records. The band will perform together with soloists – Anna Krzyżak-Siarkowska (viola), Magdalena Karolak (oboe), and Krzysztof Firlus (viola da gamba). The programme includes, among others:

• Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783) – Sinfonia from the ‘Marc Antonio e Cleopatra’ serenata
• Giovani Alberto Ristori (1692-1752) – Oboe Concerto in E flat major
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) – Viola Concerto in G major, TWV 51:G9
• Franz Benda (1709-1786) – Sinfonia for Strings in B major, LeeB 1.10
• Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703-1771) – Viola da gamba Concerto in D minor, WilG

Tickets are available at the Classix Festival 2025 website.

VR ‘Dead City’ by Krzysztof Grudziński – a poetic libretto and pandemic

‘Dead City’ is a narrative experience in virtual reality containing elements of singing, contemporary music, and opera, and is based on a poetic libretto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold from 1920. A quietened visual style invokes contemporary graphic forms popular in the Internet: vapourwave, GIFs and indie computer games’ aesthetics. The entire concept has been encapsulated in a formula that enables users to interact with the digital surroundings. The VR has been prepared by Krzysztof Grudziński – director, screenwriter, producer of games, films and videoclips.

As part of the narrative, viewers return to their memories from the pandemic. In a deserted modern metropolis, there are increasing concerns about analogue loneliness in the era of digital life. The main character, Paweł, tries to bid his late wife, Maria, farewell, seeking consolation in front of a TV screen and in prescribed medications. During restless nights, he gets in a car and takes viewers on a wild ride across Warsaw, following traces of his love.

VR ‘Dead City’, photo: press materials

The VR exhibition ‘Dead City’ will be available between 26 February and 20 March 2025 at the ‘Moldova’ National Museum Complex, Palace of Culture:

• between 27 February and 2 March: everyday from 10:00 to 17:00
• between 3 March and 20 March: on Wednesdays and Fridays from 09:00 to 13:00, on Thursdays and Saturdays from 13:00 to 17:00.

Entry is free for all visitors.

‘Apparatum’ – an installation inspired by the Polish Radio Experimental Studio

The ‘Apparatum’ installation by PanGenerator collective is inspired by the Polish Radio Experimental Studio – one of the first studios in the world that produced electroacoustic music. The installation takes on a form of a large machine inspired by the aesthetics of the famous ‘Black Room’ – a studio designed by Oskar Hansen. Electroacoustic generators and filters have been distributed in a modular manner inside two steel frameworks. Generators of analogue sound, based on audiotapes and optical components, are controlled via graphic score composed with the help of digital interface.

The installation draws musical and graphic inspirations from ‘Symphony: Electronic Music’ composed by Bogusław Schaeffer. The artist created his own visual language of symbols that transmitted guidelines to a sound engineer responsible for the production of the musical piece. In their activities, the artistic collective PanGenerator combine design, new technologies, as well as reflections on sound and its meaning in contemporary culture.

‘Apparatum’ installation, photo: press materials

The ‘Apparatum’ installation is available at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Pașilor Pierduți room, from 25 February to 20 March:

• between 25 February and 2 March: everyday from 10:00 to 19:00
• between 3 March and 20 March: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 09:00 to 13:00, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 13:00 to 17:00.

Entry to the exhibition is free for all visitors.

Poland-Romania and Romania-Poland Cultural Season 2024-2025

The second year of the Poland-Romania and Romania-Poland Cultural Season 2024-2025 has begun. The first ever Polish-Romania Cultural Season was inaugurated in June 2024 and will last until November 2025. It is taking place under the slogan “We Share a Common Language”, referring to the language of culture that allows gaining extensive knowledge and understanding through the diversity of forms, means of expression, and traditions. From classical music, through contemporary interpretations of traditions, performative arts, theatre, visual arts, photography, and design, to literature – intense months laden with events and common projects by Polish and Romanian artists are awaiting the audiences. Last year as part of the Season, Adam Mickiewicz Institute organised 11 events, attended by nearly 60,000 persons. The schedule for 2025 is available at iam.pl.

The events take place as part of the Poland-Romania Cultural Season 2024-2025 organised by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, with the support from the Polish Institute in Bucharest, and together with the Romanian Ministry of Culture, and the Romanian Cultural Institute.