Music in Old Kraków was launched by Kraków mayor Jerzy Pękala and conductor Stanisław Gałoński to attract more tourists during the summer season and promote the historic sites of the Kraków Old Town by using them as performance venues. The inaugural festival was a success, and Music in Old Kraków has been one of the most important cultural events in Kraków ever since.
In 2014, Ukrainian violinist and conductor Serhiy Burko came up with the idea of organizing a similar music festival in Lviv and holding it concurrently with Music in Old Kraków. His idea was met with enthusiasm and supported by Ukrainian conductor Yuriy Lutsiv, Stanisław Gałoński (founder and artistic director of Music in Old Kraków), Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy, and Kraków mayor Jacek Majchrowski.
The main organizer of Music in Old Lviv is the Lviv National Philharmonic, and Burko has been serving as its artistic director since the festival’s inception. The festival is also supported by the Lviv City Council and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Lviv.
Just like its counterpart in Kraków, Music in Old Lviv draws on the rich musical tradition of its host city. For example, the first edition of the festival heavily featured the works of Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, the youngest song of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who spent 25 years of his life teaching music and giving concerts in Lviv (then Lemberg).
Another thing that the Music in Old Lviv festival has in common with its Kraków counterpart is that performances are held in and around the city’s historic center, which is listed as a UNESCO World and Heritage Sites. Notable historic buildings that have been used as festival venues include the Dominican Church and Monastery, the Potocki Palace, the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, and the Lviv Naitonal Philharmonic.
Over the years, Music in Old Lviv has welcomed many notable musicians, conductors, ensembles, and orchestras. Its participants have included the Lviv Virtuosos Academic Chamber Orchestra, Lviv chamber choir Gloria, Krolewski Rorantysci, Collegium Zieleński, the Mariupol Renaissance Chamber Orchestra, the Kharkiv Beethoven Academy Chamber Orchestra, the Ivano-Frankivsk Chamber Orchestra, the Rivne Chamber Orchestra, and the Belfast Philharmonic Choir. Since Music in Old Lviv and Music in Old Kraków are held at the same time, the two festivals share some of their repertory and performers.
Music in Old Lviv has been held every year since its inception, even during the COVID-19 pandemic (of course, with all necessary precautions) and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is an important part of the city’s cultural life, a major tourist attraction, and one of the most popular summertime festivals in Lviv that closes the summer festival season in the Lviv National Philharmonic.
