Music is the most recognizable element of the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival: always of the highest quality, surprising, innovative, and far from obvious.
This year, it will traditionally resonate in the Tempel Synagogue, but also in… St. Catherine’s Church! We will also be present at the JCF Tent and at the venues of our friends — the Galicia Jewish Museum and JCC Krakow — as well as in the streets and squares of Kazimierz!
Below you will find information about the concerts. Descriptions of the other musical events (workshops, lectures, guided tours), as well as the music events included in the accompanying programme, can be found in the programme of the 35th Jewish Culture Festival.
Wednesday, July 1st, 2026
18.00 Concert / 100 PLN / 60 PLN
Piano recital – Yehuda Prokopowicz
Synagoga Tempel, ul. Miodowa 24
cooperation: Fundacja Pro Musica Bona
A gifted pianist with an extraordinary personality and exceptional musical imagination. Winner of top prizes at prestigious piano and chamber music competitions, semifinalist of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, recipient of the Polish Radio Special Prize for the best performance of the Mazurkas, and winner of the 2025 Polityka Readers’ Passport Award.
20.30 concert / free admission
Ola Bilińska // Goldene Ojgn // Golden Eyes of the Night
Joanna Galon-Frant – piano, vocals, gongs, singing bowls, shamanic drum / Łukasz Frant – cello, ocean drum, vocals / Tomasz Hajda – trombone, ocean drum, tubular bells, vocals / Ksawery Wójciński – double bass, storm drum, vocals / Ola Bilińska – vocals, electric guitar, electronics
Namiot FKŻ, ul. Józefa 36
Compositions by Ola Bilińska based on poems by Yiddish-language women poets from the anthology My Wild Goat. The pieces in the new programme revolve around themes of the body, womanhood, and memory. Alongside classical instruments, the arrangements will also feature electronic and Eastern instruments, including those used in meditation practices. Different worlds and eras will meet on stage: past and present, East and West, classical, contemporary, and ethnic music.
Thursday, July 2nd, 2026
21.00 Concert / 130 PLN / 70 PLN
Selichos/Transformation. New music in the cantorial tradition for two voices and chamber orchestra
by Jeremiah Lockwood
Composed for and performed by Riki Rose and Yoel Kohn
Conducted by Alan Pierson
Airis String Quartet: Aleksandra Czajor-Kowalska – 1st violin / Grażyna Zubik – 2nd violin / Malwina Tkaczyk - viola/ Anna Armatys-Borrelli – cello
Marek Romanowski – double bass/ Leszek Wiśniowski – flute/ Rafał Ślusarczyk – trumpet/ Andrzej Tkaczyk – trombone/ Maciej Hałoń – drums
Synagoga Tempel, ul. Miodowa 24
Selichos/Transformation is a new piece of music setting the traditional Selichos liturgy—its lineages include the work of Lockwood’s grandfather, Cantor Jacob Konigsberg, and father, composer Larry Lockwood, as well as the sounds of the lost generation of khazntes, women cantors of the early 20th century.
The musical palette of the piece draws on a breadth of musics that recontextualize the aesthetics of non-classical performance in the texture of the orchestra, including Stravinsky’s Les Noces, and the collaboration of Pharaoh Sanders and Floating Points, to name just a few salient points of reference.
Friday, July 3rd, 2026
18.00 concert/ 130 PLN / 70 PLN
The Klezmatics. Ecstatic Klezmer since 1986 – Lorin Sklamberg – vocal, piano, accordion, Frank London – trumpet, keyboard, Lisa Gutkin – violin, Matt Darriau – clarinet, saxophone, kaval, Richie Barshay – percussions, Paul Morrissett – bass guitar, tsimbl
Synagoga Tempel, ul. Miodowa 24
As part of their anniversary world tour, the Grammy Award-winning The Klezmatics will perform at the Jewish Culture Festival on Friday evening. In addition to well-known Yiddish standards, audiences will also hear songs from their new album.
Jewish Chronicle: “But while the band have done a sterling job promoting interest in Klezmer and Yiddish music, you can’t overlook what they’re adored for – catchy, pulse-quickening party tunes and heart-warming melodies – just try to watch them and not a) weep or b) stop yours.
20:30 concert / free admission
Welcomig Shabbat: Deborah Strauss – violin, vocal, cantor Jeff Warschauer – guitar, vocal, Zilyin Biret – clarinet and participants oin the musical workshops
Festival Tent, ul. Józefa 36
21.00 concert/ 130 PLN / 70 PLN
The Ziryab Trio: Taiseer Elias – oud, Nassim Dakwar – violin, Zohar Fresco – percussions
Cloisters of the St. Catherine Church, entrance at Augustiańska Street
“I would recommend to anyone interested in understanding the essence of Mizrahi music in Israel to listen to the Ziryab Trio, founded by Taiseer Elias—one of the finest oud players—who performs alongside Nassim Dakwar on violin and Zohar Fresco on percussion. …”
Saturday, July 4th, 2026
19.00 koncert / wstęp wolny
Frank London Allstars Festival Orchestra & special guests
Namiot FKŻ, ul. Józefa 36
Saturday evening in festival Kazimierz will, as always, be full of energy! And although we will gather on Wąska Street rather than Szeroka Street — the location is not what matters most. What truly counts is the power of music, community, and dance. The master of ceremonies will be the incomparable Frank London, who will create a one-of-a-kind klezmer orchestra for you, making the Jewish heart of the world beat on… Wąska Street!
Sunday, July 5th, 2026
12.00 concert / free admission
Classics at Noon: Taiseer Elias – oud
Festival Tent, ul. Józefa 36
Professor Taiseer Elias is a world-renowned virtuoso of the oud and Oriental violin. His long and distinguished career includes performances on the most prestigious stages in Israel and abroad, establishing him as a leading soloist in Arabic art music. He is widely recognized as the foremost artist in the interpretation and improvisation of classical Arabic music, uniquely integrating it with musical traditions from around the world, including those of Western music.
He worked at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he founded and led the Department of Eastern Music for 17 years. He is currently a professor in the Department of Music at the University of Haifa.
In addition, he promotes music as a means of fostering spiritual development and combating extremism and cultural prejudice.
14.00 concert / free admission
Organ recital – Jakub Stefek
St. Catharine Church / Nave, entrance at Skałeczna Street
Did you know that the Tempel Synagogue once had an organ? Indeed — in the reform synagogue that Tempel was, services were accompanied by a choir and organ music. Today, no trace of the instrument remains, which is why the synagogue hymns composed by Louis Lewandowski will be performed in St. Catherine’s Church, located almost next door to the synagogue. They will be performed by Jakub Stefek – organist of Berlin’s Reform synagogue on Pestalozzistraße.
19.00 concert / 150 PLN / 80 PLN
Cantors’ Concert: This is the gate of the Lord (PS 118,20)
Yaakov Lemmer, Shimmy Miller, Zevi Muller, Israel Rand
Conductor: Yossi Schwartz
Accompaniment: Eric Freeman
Cantors Choir
Synagoga Tempel, ul. Miodowa 24
During the first cantors’ concert at the Jewish Culture Festival in 1990, audiences could listen to the art of cantorial singing from… cassette tapes played in the Old Synagogue. Subsequent editions brought the world’s finest contemporary cantors to our stage — and even, for the first time in Poland, female cantors! We have presented Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi cantorial music alike.
This year, we invite you to a special concert in which we would like to show how Jewish liturgy sounded after the destruction of the Second Temple, when the use of instruments was forbidden as a sign of mourning. Therefore, apart from a few pieces accompanied by fortepiano, the concert will feature cantors and a 12-member choir performing a cappella. It is a unique opportunity to travel back in time, to the very roots of cantorial singing.
20.30 concert / free admission
Derya Ensemble
Namiot FKŻ, ul. Józefa 36
Living in exile for centuries, Jews drew inspiration from the music of their neighbours, creating unique musical traditions and sounds. The final concert of this year’s edition of the Jewish Culture Festival will be an opportunity to listen to the music of the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin — the natural environment in which Jewish music developed and flourished. It will serve as a gateway to future editions of the Festival. We invite you to join us.
