Copernicus #550 is the Toruń Symphony Orchestra’s latest project, dedicated to honouring Toruń’s most renowned scientist, Nicolaus Copernicus, on the occasion of the 550th anniversary of his birth. The grand celebrations in Toruń, commemorating the astronomer and his groundbreaking discoveries, have been and will continue to be accompanied by a plethora of events. We believe that the festival’s schedule, comprising concerts, lectures, and exhibitions, will enable the audience to embark on a captivating cosmic journey alongside the Orchestra’s musicians and invited artists, filled with the finest musical sounds from distant galaxies and studded with stars. A significant objective of this project is to acquaint the local community with the work of lesser-known musicians whose compositions express their admiration for Nicolaus Copernicus, his scientific achievements, and their unbridled fascination with the enigma of the Universe. In the upcoming days, we have 11 events with free admission, 2 Polish premieres showcasing the astonishing grandeur of the Universe, a multimedia show featuring a repertoire brimming with pop and film music’s greatest hits, in collaboration with acclaimed stars, and numerous other unearthly surprises that will guarantee participants an unforgettable experience. 

We assure an astronomical array of events.

The Copernicus #550 festival's programme encompasses 15 diverse events. Our guests will have the opportunity to attend 2 symphonic concerts, a large multimedia presentation, 2 free chamber concerts in one of Toruń’s shopping malls, the exhibition Planets - a Family Album, and lectures aimed at acquainting music enthusiasts with the compositions performed during individual sessions. The concert repertoire offers a rich selection of cosmic-themed works, including pieces dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus, research-oriented compositions rich in instrumental symbolism, and timeless classics infused with the inner universe of human emotions. We will focus prominently on contemporary music, particularly the lesser-known works of Polish composers, as well as iconic pieces from rock, popular, and film music. Additionally, there will be compositions dating back to the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Furthermore, as part of the Copernicus #550 festival in February 2023, the Music and Cosmos concert featured the performance of Adam Wesołowski’s Dance of the Celestial Spheres, a composition filled with numerical symbolism, created in honour of Nicolaus Copernicus’ 550th birth anniversary. 

We are dedicated to promoting lesser-known musical talents and young artists.

The festival’s primary aim remains the elevation of relatively unknown musicians, predominantly Polish composers, whose works pay homage to Nicolaus Copernicus’s legacy, and celebrate the boundless beauty and harmony of the cosmos and contemporary astronomical knowledge. We are firm in our belief that the works of these artists, though seldom performed, constitute valuable cultural contributions that deserve the exposure necessary to reach a broader audience. Throughout the festival, audiences will have the opportunity to appreciate compositions by composers marking their anniversaries, pieces that revolve entirely around Copernicus’s figure, compositions specially crafted for his birth anniversary, and works by local musicians closely connected to Toruń. Furthermore, ample attention will be directed towards artists whose work faced censorship for political reasons, as well as compositions by young musicians who draw inspiration from their fascination with the cosmos. 

Join us for the highly anticipated Polish premiere! 

The festival programme proudly presents the Polish premiere of Symphony No. 3, ‘Universe’, composed by the renowned Turkish composer, Fazil Say. This masterpiece has remained absent from Polish stages until now, making its premiere performance a thrilling challenge for our musicians due to its expansive and intricate instrumentation. In Fazil Say’s symphony, which delves into astronomical data and the symbolism of numbers, every element is purposeful and deliberate. The composer skilfully captures the dynamism and diversity of the cosmos by incorporating instruments rarely used by orchestras, including the HAPI Drum, Waterphone, Ocean Waves, Windmachine, UFO Oscar Drum, Waterphone, Sansula, and Daxophone. He creatively adapts variations in rhythm and tonality to harmonize with the theme of each section of the composition. For instance, in the opening movement, the expansion of the Universe is expressed through an increase in the number of bars, showcasing the composer’s intricate attention to detail. Equally captivating moments can be found throughout the symphony, such as a passage dedicated to the mysteries of life on Venus, a section that transports listeners to the heart of a Jupiter storm, and an exploration of the vicinity of an exploding Supernova. The symphony culminates with an exploration of the enigma of dark matter, a crucial but invisible building block of the Universe. 

The programme will feature a great multimedia show

The concert Music From The Moon - Hits From Another Universe is a grand spectacle which will showcase iconic stars from the pop music scene, including: Karolina Leszko - the winner of the Korowód (Procession) competition during the 2009 Grechuta Festival and a participant in various musical television programs, Sylwia Lorens - an artist renowned for her interpretations of opera classics, operetta, and retro music, Kamil Franczak - the recipient of the 2019 Złota Maska (Golden Mask) artistic award.  Also appearing will be Łukasz Drapała - the runner-up in The Voice of Poland 2022 and a semi-finalist on the talent show Mam talent! (Poland's Got Talent) in 2021, as well as Kamil Skicki - concertmaster of numerous symphony orchestras and founder of string quartets.

The concert’s repertoire seamlessly blends symphonic pieces with beloved hits from popular music genres, primarily rock and film scores. All of these selections are intricately woven into the cosmic theme, underscoring the universality of this motif in culture, which has inspired artists worldwide for centuries. We are confident that the inclusion of famous quotes, captivating visualizations, and innovative technical elements like the laser harp in our instrumentation will not only make this event an immensely enjoyable experience that transports you to the stars but will also offer a platform to showcase the Copernican Revolution as an idea that forever transformed our perception of the world, paving the way for the development of modern science.