Międzynarodowy Festiwal Muzyki Sakralnej w

Katowicach
30 September 2023 | Katowice, PL

‘Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life’ Vincent Kusters, bariton & Roger Braun, piano

5th International Festival of Sacred Music "Masters of Prayer with Music"

Is prayer just words? Or perhaps even words whose source is the first, the oldest of all: the Word that was in the beginning was with God and was Him (John 1:1)...? Are they the only ones who worship God? And the color, and the shape, and… the sound?

Saint Augustine is said to have said that he who sings prays twice (Enarratio in Psalmos, 72, 1). For hundreds of years, Christian churches have been singing songs and other songs, giving the faithful hope and fear before the face of the Most High. Music, although it is an abstract, dynamic art, developing over time and therefore elusive, nevertheless has an extraordinary power to express the inexpressible - this is a mystery that no treatise has yet explained.

The project of the International Festival Masters of Prayer with Music in Katowice, a UNESCO Creative City, is a response of young people to the need to pray also with music and singing. The masterful repertoire includes outstanding works of liturgical and generally religious music created over the last five hundred years. Focused on the spiritual element in the creative act and professional execution, within the walls of churches, and therefore in close proximity to the sacred, it will provide numerous impulses for reflection on the essence of salvation, thus being part of the evangelization trend.

The first edition of the Festival took place in 2019 and gathered thousands of listeners in 7 selected churches in Katowice, where 220 artists from around the world performed. The theme was "Gloria". Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the second edition was different from the previous one and took place online - via video transmission on the eM radio website and in audio form, also on eM radio . The main theme of the 3rd International Festival of Sacred Music Masters of Prayer Music was "Being like Him" ​​and it was dedicated especially to Fr. Jan Masze.

We invite you to participate in this year's edition of the Festival.