The opening concert, by the Polyphony Choir directed by Stephen Layton, will focus on little-known music written by Polish composers Wojciech Kilar and Stanisław Moryto in tribute to Pope John Paul II.
Other featured composers will include Paweł Łukaszewski, Marian Borkowski and Michał Ziółkowski.
The second concert, by The Gesualdo Six under Owain Park on November 10, will centre on music in honour of the Virgin Mary, from Gaude Mater Polonia by Wincenty of Kielcza (13th century) to Tota pulchra es Maria by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki (17th century) and the UK premiere of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Veni, O mater terrae; O, mater semper alma.
The festival will round off on November 11 with a concert under the motto "Masters of Polish Polyphony." It will feature the Rodolfus Choir directed by Ralph Allwood in a selection of Polish chants, anthems, prayers and organ solos (by Rupert Jeffcoat) from the medieval hymn Bogurodzica (Mother of God) to All Shall Be Well by Roxanna Panufnik, the daughter of Andrzej Panufnik, the Polish composer who spent the best part of his life in Britain.
All the concerts take place at London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Launched last year by the Warsaw-based Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the festival is intended to be an annual event as part of the institute's mission to share Polish culture with international audiences.
The artistic director of the festival, composer and conductor Paweł Łukaszewski, has told the media: “I am delighted to direct the Joy & Devotion Festival for a second time, and share the many glories of Polish sacred music, both old and new, with British audiences. We look forward to hearing these excellent British choirs perform these great works of Polish of choral music in such a fine setting, and we are proud to have commissioned some brand new music for the occasion.”
(mk/gs)