edition 2026

Ladies and Gentlemen 
Dear Friends


This year's edition of Baroque Explorations Festival will visit
Lower Silesia/Poland.  During the  inaugural concert, the
international ensemble Baroque Collegium 1685  - Choir and Orchestra
and invited soloists, under the direction of Agnieszka Żarska,
will perform G.F. Handel's Ode: "Alexander's Feast or the
Power of Music" HWV 75. The solo parts will be performed by
Sylwia Olszyńska- a soprano associated with the Grand Theatre
in Warsaw; British tenor Gwilym Bowen; and Czech bass Tomáš Král.
 
The work, written to the text of the John Dryden's Ode, which celebrates
the power of music, was composed by Handel in 1736.
The London premiere at Covent Garden Theatre was a resounding
success, confirming Handel's far-reaching decision to abandon Italian
opera in favor of English oratorio.
 
As Agnieszka Żarska, artistic director of Baroque Explorations, emphasizes:
"In this project, we are combining two extraordinary phenomena, 
the music and architecture. The choice of the concert venue is no accident.
It is really wonderful that, thanks to the collaboration with Książ Castle,
Handel's work will be performed in one of the most beautiful Baroque
halls in this part of Europe, a place that moreover, has become  
linked to the British Royal Family through Princess Daisy."
 
The  concert, under the Honorary Patronage of the British Council, will
also mark the 10th anniversary of the artistic activity of the
Baroque Collegium 1685 Ensemble.
The event will be broadcast online on YouTube and on social media.
 
Organizer: Szczawnica Chamber Choir Association;
Event Patron: Książ Castle;
Honorary Patronage: British Council;
Strategic Partner: Malopolska Voivodeship
Co-financed by the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund under the "Music" program, implemented by the National Institute of Music and Dance;
Collaboration: Hotel Biały Wałbrzych, Media Patronage: TVP Culture