Start Pools voorzitterschap gevierd (en)

Today marks the start of Poland’s chairmanship of the Council of the European Union. Poland is taking over the Presidency from Hungary which has presided over the EU for the past six months.

The Polish Presidency gets under way amid many serious economic and social challenges now facing the European Union. Poland’s program and plan of activity are its response to those challenges. Poland’s objectives already enjoy the support of many European countries and community institutions. Surveys have shown that the Presidency is supported by Polish society, one of the EU’s most euro-enthusiastic.

The goals to be pursued over the next six months are efforts to deepen the integration of the EU market which should lead to swifter economic growth. Efforts will also be made to further enlarge the EU and strengthen cooperation with neighbours, guaranteeing greater stability in this region of the world, both in the south and the east. Another goal is the strengthening of Europe’s energy, food and military security. Also during Poland’s Presidency, the extremely important discussion on the new EU budget for 2014-2020 will get under way.

Today in Warsaw Prime minister Donald Tusk i is playing host to the President of the European Union Council Herman van Rompuy i, the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barrosoand Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán i, from whom he will symbolically take over the EU Council chairmanship.

A ceremony at the Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera will mark the official inauguration of Poland’s Presidency, where the premiere performance of Karol Szymanowski’s opera ‘King Roger’ will be staged.

CULTURAL PROGRAMME OF THE INAUGURATION

12:00-20:00 EUgenius, children’s stage

Rynek Mariensztacki (Mariensztat Square)

At noon, Warsaw’s Mariensztat Squarewill be transformed into a creative playground where children will get an opportunity to ignite their imagination and uncover the mystery of the senses.

Forming the face of EUgenius, installations designed by Polish artists will be set up in the square. Children will be able to enter and ascend his NOSE, pull his HAIR, twist his MOUSTACHE, paint his LIPS, look deep into his EYES to see if EUgenius looks to be a good sort, and after a brief rest in his giant HANDS, they can pop into the EAR and listen to music.

The culminating highlight of the day is the performance of Asia Mina (Asia Bronislawska) who will team up with the brass orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski State Secondary Music School in Katowice to present tunes from the premiere ‘Run Out!’ album, which has been released to mark this event.

Curator: Joanna Bronislawska

Executive producer: Form and Shape Foundation

Admission to concerts and all stage events celebrating the inauguration is free.

12:00-22:00 EUharmony, ethnic stage

Rynek Nowego Miasta (New Town Marketplace)

A ten-hour-long musical journey around Europe and the ethnic minorities of past and present-day Poland.

Rynek Nowego Miasta will become the venue of performances of over a hundred musicians from the most distant corners of Europe who will prove that various musical traditions may blend, preserving their uniqueness and creating a whole new quality. Not only cultures but also styles and means of expression, tradition and modernity will fuse together. Guitars, trumpets, percussion, violins or double bases will be accompanied by unique instruments, such as the wheel fiddle, the mandora, the Scandinavian moraharpa, the Moroccan qarqabus, or the old Polish instruments, the Bilgoraj sukaand the Plock fidel reconstructed on the basis of drawings and excavations.

Curator: Anna Maminska

Executive producer: ‘Transetnika’ Trans-ethnic Art Association

18:00-03:00 The Third Ear, experimental/alternative stage

Powisle Power Plant and Copernicus Science Centre

after-party from 03:00

Industrial interiors of a former power plant on the Vistula and a state-of-the-art science centre echo with the sounds of electro, improvised, alternative, post-rock and jazz music.

The abandoned power plant in Powisle and the Copernicus Centre of Science will become the venue of musical experiments as well as alternative and independent projects which may go beyond their standard definition. Performers include Fred Frith, Mouse on Mars and The EX.

Curator: Michal Borkiewicz

Executive producer: Plan B Association

Partner: Menolly Poland

22:00-02:00 WARSAW CALLING, main stage - Final concert of the day inaugurating of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council

Plac Defilad (Parade Square)

Based on the screenplay by Krzysztof Materna and Kuba Wojewódzki, this music show will be the main cultural highlight of the first day of the Polish Presidency of the European Union Council. The best of classical and pop music will be performed by Polish and foreign artists on three interconnected multimedia stages. The backdrop of the concert are film impressions and a spectacular fireworks show around the Palace of Culture.

Executive producer: MM Communications