Foreign tourists' offer

• symphony concerts (every Friday), chamber concerts during the artistic season that lasts from September until the end of June. See the repertoire.
• two oldest in Northern Poland, highly appreciated abroad, cyclic artistic and academic events that always take place in September, i.e. The International Festival Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis combined with The Musicological and Slavistic Congress (triennial) and Bydgoszcz Music Festival (annual).

• concerts at the European level with the participation of world leading artists
• moderate concert ticket prices (discounts for university and school students, organised groups, free admission for the disabled)
• possibility of booking seats and tickets via e-mail SEE THE REPERTOIRE, CONCERT HALL PLAN
• a car park near the Philharmonic
• a café in the building of the Philharmonic
• possibility of sightseeing of the Philharmonic and the surrounding Musical District with a guide
• numerous public transport connections (buses, trams), a taxi rank
• easy connection with the airport
• hotels, fashionable restaurants with Polish and regional cuisine, music shops, banks and foreign exchange offices in the vicinity (a ten-minute-walk)
• possibility of sending current information via e-mail

• possibility of booking special concerts (with the participation of the symphonic orchestra, chamber groups, trios, quartets, singers etc. ) with an agreed programme, i.e.
  
  • concerts for tourists' groups
  • occasional concerts for companies and institutions (e.g. jubilee celebrations)
  • family celebration concerts
• concerts can take place both in the concert halls of the Philharmonic and in many regional relics (churches, palace complexes, manor-houses) which can be booked on request
• possibility of booking the rooms for conferences, symposiums, meetings on good conditions: 
  
  • competitive, agreed prices
  • possibility of organising catering
  • terms on agreement
  • we are open to other propositions

PADEREWSKI STATE PHILHARMONIC IN BYDGOSZCZ
The Bydgoszcz Philharmonic ranks among the leading musical institutions in the country. It has two permanent artistic groups. One is Orkiestra Symfoniczna Filharmonii Pomorskiej, established in 1946. Its traditions date back even further, to the interwar period, to Miejska Orkiestra Symfoniczna which existed at that time. The other group is Capella Bydgostiensis pro Musica Antiqua, established in 1962, one of the first groups in Poland to present ancient music using instruments of the period and their replicas. The output of both musical groups in the Pomeranian Philharmonic includes numerous album recordings and foreign tours. Moreover, composers write music especially for them, since both the Pomeranian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Capella Bydgostiensis take part in world premieres of the works of such eminent musicians as Górecki, Kilar, Schaeffer, Twardowski or Penherski.
November 16th 1958 is an extremely important date in the more than 50-year-long history of the Pomeranian Philharmonic - when the first concert took place in its newly erected, exceptionally stately edifice. The building, raised through admirable efforts of the Philharmonic's late long-standing director Andrzej Szwalbe, has an 880-seat concert hall with superb, world-famous acoustics, a 150-seat chamber music hall, and a 170-seat concert foyer. Its 47-pipe mechanical organ, built by the Rieger-Kloss company from Krnov (Czech Republic) is installed in the back of the concert hall stage, spacious enough to hold a grand orchestra and a choir. In the main foyer and side halls one can admire a rich collection of busts of famous composers and unique tapestries custom-woven at the order of the Philharmonic. The series of tapestries by one of the most outstanding Polish colourists Tadeusz Brzozowski, titled Kwartet zapustny, holds a special place in the collection, as do the paintings, which include works of such famous artists as Zdzisław Beksiński, Jerzy Nowosielski and Jan Tarasin.
The artistic activities of the Pomeranian Philharmonic include symphonic and chamber concerts as well as recitals of greatest virtuosos from all over the world. Since 1958 the Philharmonic has also been engaged in extensive educational projects involving children and youth. Around 1000 programs and concerts aimed at developing the love of music are organized each year for 300 thousand young listeners. Two festivals, organized since 1963 Bydgoskie Festiwale Muzyczne and Międzynarodowe Festiwale Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis (organized since 1966 on a tri-annual basis), together with musicological and Slavonic congresses are especially prominent among the artistic activities of the Pomeranian Philharmonic.
The MAEO festival plays an important cultural role; it provides an exceptionally valuable platform for exchanging ideas for scholars and artists of East and West. The musicological and Slavonic congresses gather representatives of more than 50 thriving world university centres spread between Washington and Moscow. The aim of both the Congress and Festival is to find the common cultural roots of the Old Continent. The MAEO Festival of Ancient Music of the East is a truly unique phenomenon in the world in terms of the wide scope of works it presents: the compositions originate from countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Byzantium.

Many large-scale artistic events, featuring both the permanent groups and visiting artists, took place in the more than 50-year-long history of the Pomeranian Philharmonic. The Bydgoszcz stage has hosted such world celebrities as Gwendolyn Bradley, Benjamin Britten, Sarah Chang, Nelson Goerner, Leila Josefowicz, Ryszard Karczykowski, Cyprien Katsaris, Nigel Kennedy, Kevin Kenner, Kazimierz Kord, Mischa Maisky, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Karol Małcużyński, Kurt Masur, Shlomo Mintz, Garrick Ohlsson, Luciano Pavarotti, Peter Pears, Ilan Rogoff, Artur Rubinstein, Aleksiej Sułtanov, Jeffrey Swann, Antoni Wit and numerous others, whose names cannot all be mentioned here. Furthermore, a number of outstanding artistic groups deserve a mention: BBC Radio Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio in Katowice, The King's Singers, The Tallis Scholars, Westminster Abbey Choir, and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Thanks to modern technology, music lovers from remote parts of Poland, using email, have been able to book tickets for these concerts remotely. The performances of such celebrities can take place thanks to the generosity of the sponsors. The Pomeranian Philharmonic, due to its reputation and achievements, is invited to co-organize world famous artistic events. At a meeting in Warsaw on January 6th 2006 Eleonora Harendarska, the director of the Philharmonic, and Elżbieta Penderecka the general director of Ludvig van Beethoven Easter Festival and Piano Festival, agreed on the form of future mutual cooperation. As a result of this cooperation world famous artistic groups, among others: Korean Chamber Ensemble, Shanghai Quartet, Massimo Mercelli Trio performed in the concert hall in Bydgoszcz. Common ventures are planned for consecutive seasons.

The outstanding acoustic properties of the concert hall are used to make numerous recordings produced by professional publishers. A number of CDs recorded here were awarded the prestigious Fryderyk awards by the Polish record industry. The first Polish audiophile record, covered with 24-carat gold, was also recorded here. The building of the Pomeranian Philharmonic is also used to hold numerous congresses and conferences, organized by universities, banks, companies and big corporations. Artists, politicians, business executives and intellectual elite gather in the magnificent interior. The institution and both its musical groups separately are involved in many events of historic importance for the city, the region and the country. In 1999, the Pomeranian Philharmonic organized a series of concerts to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin's death, which took place with participation of the world's most outstanding pianists. The Philharmonic initiated the legislative process behind the Act of the Polish Parliament, based on which 2001, Paderewski's 140th birthday and 60th death anniversary, was declared the year of Ignacy Paderewski. This year alone will no doubt remain one of the most important years in terms of its abundance in significant artistic events in the entire history of the Philharmonic. Several other events included in various nationwide celebrations, took place here. Perhaps the most important ones included the inaugural concert on February 16th 2000 and the 39th edition of Bydgoszcz Music Festival dedicated to the master's work in September. Yet another important element of the Festival was the symposium "The work and pianism of Paderewski in the context of the epoch" prepared by the Institute of Musicology of Warsaw University. In 2006, the Philharmonic hosted a number of presentations of Mozart's works as part of the Mozart Year, with the participation of both orchestras of the Pomeranian Philharmonic and famous artists (e.g. Ewa Pobłocka, Jadwiga Kotnowska, Urszula Kryger, and Takashi Yamamoto). Similarly, 2007, the year of the 125th birthday and 70th death anniversary of Karol Szymanowski, was declared the year of the famous composer. The 45th Bydgoszcz Music Festival is a tribute to his outstanding artistic output and this year its title will be "Karol Szymanowski and 20th-century Music Masters".
Due to good cooperation with the media, both public and commercial, our offer of fine music may extend even to remote reaches of Northern Poland. Mostly, however, our marketing activities focus on the region of Pomorze and Kujawy. All viewers of Polish Television Channel 2 and Internet users worldwide may learn about our activities via TV-text services or the Internet. Eleonora Harendarska has been general and artistic manager of the Philharmonic since 1991. The Philharmonic is managed jointly by the Local Government of Kujawsko-Pomorskie and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.