Poland's International Organ Music Festival draws top European organists

The 2026 International Organ Music Festival, organized by the city of Zakopane and the Zakopane Cultural Centre, featured a series of concerts across July and August. Highlights included a recital by renowned Italian organist Eugenio Maria Fagiani, who performed Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in E‑minor BWV 548 and works by Liszt and Morandi, drawing enthusiastic applause from the audience.

In Warsaw, the festival’s XXXIII edition presented Spanish organist Jesús Sampedro Márquez at the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, coinciding with the presentation of the Silver Flute award to distinguished Polish organist Jan Mikołaj Gładysz for his contributions to sacred music. The program showcased pieces from the 17th to the 20th century, including works by Correa de Arauxo, Carnicer, Leandro Marianiego, and a finale of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in A‑minor BWV 561. Artists from Spain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and Poland participated, underscoring the festival’s role as a major event for organ and sacred music in Central Europe.