Miedzynarodowy International Festival Wratislavia Cantans (MFWC)

"Wratislavia Cantans" is one of the most important and prestigious festivals in Europe and takes place in the beautiful ancient churches and castles of the city of Wroclaw and the surrounding area of Lower Silesia. For over forty years the festival has celebrated vocal and choral music of all kinds and has been a showcase for outstanding performing artists from all over the world.
The original idea of the festival founded in 1966 by composer and conductor Andrzej Markowski was to perform the greatest oratorios and cantatas but also music from opposite ends of the musical spectrum – early and contemporary music.
Since 2006 the Festival has seen major expansion and development under the direction of Andrzej Kosendiak and acclaimed conductor Paul McCreesh as the Artistic Director.
The festival takes part during the first two weeks of September and presents over a forty concerts. One of the unique qualities of the festival is commissioning pieces by Wroclaw based composers as well as preparing special projects joining forces of Wroclaw musicians with world-known ensemble Gabrieli Consort & Players.
In addition to that it must be mentioned that among the most distinguished guests of Wratislavia Cantans were Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Renée Fleming, Krzysztof Penderecki, Philippe Herreweghe, Antoni Wit, Andreas Scholl, Christianne Stotijn, Ton Koopman, Trevor Pinnock and ensembles such as: Collegium Vocale Gent, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Il Giardino Armonico, The English Baroque Soloists.
Every year, over 30,000 people join us in this musical feast along with thousands of radio listeners as majority of performances are broadcasted on radio by EBU.
„Wratislavia Cantans" is a member (from 1977) of prestigious European Festival Association (EFA), which has its residence in Ghent. Another excellent chance for the promotion of Polish culture began in 1998 when the Festival become a member of the International Society for Performing Arts in New York (ISPA).