A return appearance by the acclaimed baroque orchestra from Poland, featuring rarely performed early Polish music. The orchestra has performed at numerous festivals, including the Bach Festival in Vienna, the Utrecht Oude Musik Festival in Germany, the Tartini Festival in Pirano, and Early Music Festival New York, and has performed in concerts in Poland, Slovenia, Austria, The Netherlands, USA, and Canada. The group’s releases include Il Giardino d’Amore and Musica del Sole.

In 965 Mieszko I, the chief of the Polanie, one of the numerous Slav tribe of the period, thwarted an alliance between Christian Chechs and his pagan, Slav, neighbours by his marriage to Dobrava, daughter of Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia. “In the following year, as part of the marriage agreement, he renounced the pagan religion of his ancestors and was baptized into the Christian faith. By this one act, he braught his people into the world of western culture and Latin literacy. He started the recorded history of the Poles which has continued without a break from that day to this.” (Norman Davies, God’s Playground, A History of Poland)

In the intervening years, Poland’s location on world maps has allowed for numerous and rich cultural exchanges. Poland has historically linked various cultures and religions and has served as a carrier of diverse cultural and social trends.

The originality of this concert’s program lies in the juxtaposition of three worlds – Nordic, East, and West – and in presenting a way to achieve a synthesis in language, religion, and culture as demonstrated in the works of 17th century musicians from many different backgrounds.