The 32nd Johannes Brahms Organ and Chamber Music Festival “Non Sola Scripta” is drawing to a close. Since the beginning of July, every Sunday the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew on Ostrów Tumski has resounded with classical and solemn music in masterful performances, attracting audiences with the festival’s unique concert formula. Now the time has come for the ceremonial finale.
On 31st of August at 7:00 p.m., within the Gothic walls of the Collegiate Church, the performers will be Emanuel Bączkowski (organ), Rev. Prof. Dr. Hab. Zdzisław Madej (vocal improvisations), and Michał Chorosiński (recitations). The evening’s program will include, among others, excerpts from “In Paradisum” as well as the monumental work “The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross” by Feliks Nowowiejski. In the artists’ interpretation, these pieces will be enriched with their own improvisations.
Emanuel Bączkowski – Doctor of Musical Arts, concert organist and chamber musician, scholarship holder of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and recipient of the Gloria Artis Medal. For years he has promoted Polish organ literature at festivals throughout Europe and beyond.
Rev. Zdzisław Madej – tenor with a lyrico-spinto voice, professor with the state title, who has performed in Germany, France, Switzerland, and the USA, with a broad repertoire spanning opera, oratorio, and cantata works.
Michał Chorosiński – actor associated for more than two decades with the Polish Theatre in Wrocław, known for his stage, film, and television roles; this year he became director of the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lublin.
The Non Sola Scripta Festival has for years stood out with its unique formula, in which—as the name suggests—not only the music written in scores matters, but also what is created in the very moment of encounter between artists and audience. Improvisation, the dialogue of various art forms, and unrepeatable constellations of performers make this event the only organ festival in Poland with such a concept.
The concert on 31st of August at 7:00 p.m. will close this year’s edition of the festival, which has long since become an integral part of Wrocław’s cultural landscape. It is the last opportunity this season to experience an extraordinary meeting of organ and chamber music within one of Ostrów Tumski’s most precious historic landmarks.
XXXII Johannes Brahms Organ and Chamber Music Festival “Non Sola Scripta”
6 July – 31 August 2025 | every Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomew
pl. Kościelny 1, Wrocław