Third Annual Festival of Film Music in Kraków, May 20-22

The Festival of Film Music in Krakow, organized by the Krakow Festival Office and Radio RMF Classic, is dedicated to music created for the screen. This unique event combines the highest quality interpretation of film music, performed by great musicians and high-quality video images.



This year's festival, which takes place for the third time, will have two faces. On one hand, it will present a selection of music from the greatest productions of the Chinese film industry (House of Flying Daggers, Hero, The Banquet: 100 Days of the Emperor, Curse of the Golden Flower), as well as intimate and lyrical music from Asian films including In the Mood for Love and 2046. Additionally, the Festival’s grand finale will be a performance of the music from Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King – the last part of the trilogy by Peter Jackson – to complete the showing of Howard Shore’s award-winning score.

The inauguration of the Festival will take place on May 20 at 21.30. That evening, the composer Tan Dun, who received an Oscar for his music for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will present The Hero Concerto, which was specially prepared for the Krakow’s Festival. The Sinfonietta Cracovia Orchestra and Chorus Pro Musica Mundi will be led by the composer himself, and Leszek Możdżer will be featured as the soloist.

On the second day, May 21, at 21.30 at Błonia there will be a monumental concert of the biggest hits of Shigeru Umebayashi, the creator of music for films such as Curse of the Golden Flower and House of Flying Daggers. That evening will be also intimate and sensual through screenings of director Wong Kar-Wai’s films 2046 and In the Mood for Love.

The highlight of this unusual edition of the Festival will be the world premiere of music from the movie A Single Man. The author of the soundtrack to the film debut of Tom Ford, known to be a famous fashion designer, is Krakow composer Abel Korzeniowski, who was nominated for this music to the Golden Globes in 2009. The concert will be conducted by one of the most talented of young composers of film music, Benjamin Wallfisch, vocals will perform Polish soprano Ewa Małas-Godlewska. Beside her on stage will be the Polish Radio Choir and AUKSO Orchestra.

Saturday's finale (22 May at 21:30) will be the Oscar-winning film soundtrack The Lord of the Rings. Return of the King. The last part of Peter Jackson's trilogy will have a unique ensemble featuring the Sinfonietta Cracovia Orchestra, a mixed composition of the Pro Musica Mundi Choir and the Pueri Cantores Sancti Nicolai Boys Choir. Next to them on the stage will be mezzo-soprano Kaitlyn Lusk, who an American reviewer described as having the ability to move along a musical scale with "the ease of an elf". Vocals will be sung in languages created by Tolkien, Quenya, Sindarin, Khuzdül, Adûnaic, and the Black Speech, as well as in Old English. The performance will be led by the Swiss conductor Ludwig Wicki. The creator of this score, Howard Shore, will be the guest of honor at this event.

Also on May 21 three concerts will be held in the Kijow Cinema Center (at 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm) addressed to the youngest children. Alan Menken’s songs from Walt Disney's famous production will be shown. Several Polish stars, including Natalia Kukulska, will be featured as soloists.

There will be a possibility to meet the special guests of the Festival in person at the Festival Academy on the Main Market Square. Pod Baranami Cinema will be showing films of the composers whose music will be played this year in Krakow.


The official english website of the festival.