2022

Joy & Devotion is a festival celebrating Polish music which is presented by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (with the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture). Having debuted in 2021, the festival has returned to the church of St Martin in the Fields for a series of concerts this week, under artistic director Paweł Łukaszewski. The festival opened on 8 November 2022, with Stephen Layton conducting Polyphony, with organist Rupert Jeffcoat, in a programme of contemporary Polish music under the title Music for a Polish Pope presenting works inspired by Pope John Paul II and featuring seven UK premieres. There were pieces by Wojciech Kilar (1932-2013), Michał Ziółkowski (born 1991), Marcin Łukaszewski (born 1972), Stanisław Moryto (1947-2018), Miłosz Bembinow (born 1978), Marian Borkowski (born 1934) and Dariusz Przybylski (born 1984), with Paweł Łukaszewski's (born 1968) Missa Sancti Papae Ioannis Pauli Secundi Magni which was written for Pope John Paul II's centenary. Paweł Łukaszewski comes from something of a Polish composition dynasty, his brother is Marcin Łukaszewski and their father was the composer Wojciech Łukaszewski (1936-1978).

In his review, Robert Hugill says "The performances from Polyphony, Stephen Layton and Rupert Jeffcoat were all superb, every note of music seemed perfectly placed. Layton and his choir really managed to capture the different atmospheres of the pieces, whilst Jeffcoat dazzled with his organ playing."