The International Cello Academy (ICA) is one of only few events in Europe dedicated to cellists from all over the world. It has primarily an educational function, combined with a festival. As part of the ICA, concerts with a very wide repertoire are organized. Their programmes include Baroque pieces as well as jazz and contemporary music. The ICA was created to bring the world of cello ensembles closer to the audience and to support talents wishing to master their cello skills.

The originator and organiser of the International Cello Academy is the Polish Cello Quartet. It was established in 2011 on the initiative of young Polish cellists: Tomasz Daroch, Wojciech Fudala, Krzysztof Karpeta and Adam Krzeszowiec. The PCQ programmes include works for cello quartet. This repertoire is constantly expanded to include pieces written today by Polish and international composers, such as by Agata Zubel, Artur Zagajewski, Piotr Moss or Annelies Van Parys.

During the concert, cellists in various line-up will perform graceful, melodious works by artists writing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Siete canciones populares españolas were composed by Manuel de Falla. In this collection dating from 1914, the brightest point is the perfect stylisation of songs of traditional Spanish provenance. Among them we will find the Asturiana from the northern part of Asturias or the Seguidilla murciana, a type of flamenco from Murcia. Kol Nidrei op. 47 for cello and orchestra is one of Max Bruch’s famous works and is based on traditional Hebrew themes. The last piece in the programme will be the Cello Quartet in D minor for cello quartet and orchestra by the Croatian artist Rudolf Matz, a figure extremely important for the musical life of Zagreb in the 20th century.