About festival

For over 30 years, the Silesian Guitar Autumn has made Tychy the capital of classical guitar for several days, attracting enthusiasts of this instrument from all over the world. Evening concerts featuring world-class stars, a three-stage international performance competition, exhibitions of luthiers, masterclasses with recognized authorities, and a scholarly-artistic session - all of these elements allow for a comprehensive presentation of the guitar world. The full spectrum of events in the program ensures that the pleasure of participating in the festival is enjoyed by those involved in the world of classical guitar on a daily basis, classical music enthusiasts, as well as individuals who are just discovering this world.

The initiator and first artistic director of the festival was Jan Edmund Jurkowski. It was thanks to him that the first edition of the festival took place in 1986, and since then, it has been organized biennially, firmly establishing itself in the calendar of Poland's largest musical events.

Since then, the festival has continuously evolved and changed, responding to the needs of its audience, becoming one of the largest and, over time, the oldest classical guitar festivals in Europe.
The main goal of the festival is to present the most valuable achievements of contemporary guitar playing and composers, showcasing a wide spectrum of guitar music genres, both in terms of ensemble and stylistic-historical aspects, as well as promoting the accomplishments of the most outstanding Polish performers, young talents, and the broader Polish music industry.

An essential pillar of the festival is the three-stage International Guitar Competition named after Jan Edmund Jurkowski. For the second stage of auditions in Tychy, the jury selects 24 participants from the online submissions. A tradition dating back to 1986 is the requirement for finalists to perform a concert accompanied by an orchestra in the final stage. For years, this has been fulfilled by AUKSO - Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy conducted by maestro Marek Moś.

Securing victory in guitar competitions have been a ``springboard`` to a global career for young guitar adepts - among these laureates are Marcin Dylla, Jérémy Jouve, Kyuhee Park, Gabriel Bianco.

The Municipal Cultural Center in Tychy organizes the festival in close collaboration with the Academy of Music in Katowice and partner institutions such as the AUKSO orchestra, Radom Chamber Orchestra, and NOSPR. In this way, we ensure a high level of expertise and maintain the attractiveness of the presented program.

The artistic director of the festival, Marek Nosal `{`PhD habil.`}`, an instrumentalist and professor at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, oversees the diversity and richness of the program. He also serves as the Dean of the Instrumental Faculty at the university. For the creation of this year's Silesian Guitar Autumn, we have invited a total of 188 artists from around the world – soloists, chamber ensembles, five Polish orchestras, and internationally renowned stars. These include Yamandu Costa (winner of the Latin Grammy Awards 2021), Kupiński Guitar Duo, Antonio Rey, and Łukasz Kuropaczewski. The 19th edition of the festival will be highlighted by the premiere of a piece for guitar and strings by Aleksander Nowak.