Performers:

• Paweł Wakarecy – piano
• Iwona Hossa – soprano
• Kaunas State Symphony Orchestra (Lithuania)
• Toruń Symphony Orchestra
• Dainius Pavilionis (Lithuania) – conductor

Program:

• W. Lutosławski – Variations on a Theme by Paganini
• R. Strauss – Four Last Songs (Vier letzte Lieder)
• R. Strauss – Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 (Symphonic Poem)
• The Song of Two Rivers:
  The Vistula (Magdalena Cynk)
  The Neris ( Zita Bružaitė)

On 20 June, the Concert Hall of the Jordanki Culture and Congress Centre will become a meeting place for two orchestras and two rivers, while also serving as the setting for two world premieres. The evening will feature two outstanding soloists. With the concert Marek Wakarecy in Memoriam, we will bring the 47th artistic season of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra to a close and inaugurate the 30th International Nova Music and Architecture Festival.

The programme offers a remarkable journey through the richness and diversity of musical genius. Acclaimed pianist Paweł Wakarecy will perform Witold Lutosławski’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini, a work with a fascinating history. Its original version was composed in 1941, bringing moments of hope and artistic freedom to audiences in occupied Warsaw. The later orchestral version, completed in 1978 blends virtuosic brilliance with modern orchestral sound.

The evening’s more contemplative dimension will be provided by Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs, performed by the distinguished soprano Iwona Hossa. The first three songs were composed to the poems by the German Nobel Prize-winning writer Hermann Hesse, while the final song draws on a poem by a German Romantic writer Joseph von Eichendorff.

The culmination of the evening will be the Toruń premiere of Richard Strauss’s symphonic poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Inspired by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, this monumental work contains one of the most famous openings in the history of classical music – the iconic Sunrise.  For this performance, two orchestras will join forces on stage: the Toruń Symphony Orchestra and the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dainius Pavilionis.

Their collaboration will provide a fitting setting for the world premiere of The Song of Two Rivers. This unique project brings together two newly commissioned compositions: The Vistula by Magdalena Cynk and The Neris by Zita Bružaitė – the two rivers that have shaped the identities of Toruń and Kaunas for centuries.

The concert is dedicated to the memory of Marek Wakarecy, the long-serving director of the Toruń Symphony Orchestra and one of the most influential figures in the cultural life of Toruń. In 2026, fifteen years will have passed since his untimely death.

Mecenas Główny: Gmina Miasta Toruń
Mecenas Kultury - Główny Sponsor: PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A.
Mecenas Strategiczny: Strabag Sp. z o.o.
Mecenas Złoty: Weyna Invest Sp. J.
Mecenas: RTR Group Sp. z o.o.
Partner: MZK w Toruniu Sp. z o.o.
Partner motoryzacyjny: Toyota Bednarscy
Partner technologiczny: Vobacom Sp. z o.o.
Organizator: Toruńska Orkiestra Symfoniczna