Mystery of Light and Darkness. Music that restores memory and allows you to hear silence

November has a special silence in it. It is a time when we think back to the past more often, recall faces, stories and places that are no longer there.

We pause for a moment, allow ourselves to remember and reflect on what passes away, but which, despite the passing of the years, still remains present in us. In the atmosphere of November asphyxiation, we invite you to the KOK for a concert, which will become a space for just such a meeting - with memory, history and your own sensitivity.

“The Mystery of Light and Darkness” is an unusual musical story by Mikołaj Kostka, a violinist who in his concert plays the role of klezmer, guardian of sounds and memory. It is a story about a world that has gone, leaving its mark on the landscape, culture and human stories. About people who are no longer there, about lost traditions, forgotten customs, tastes and smells. About the emptiness that remains after what was part of everyday life and today exists only in memories.

The artist turns to Jewish culture, looking at its sensitivity and place in history, which for centuries has intertwined the destinies of Poles and Jews. It is from this meeting of different worlds that a musical story of closeness, coexistence, but also of loss and absence emerges. About how many of the old stories we still carry inside us, even if we can't always name them.

As we read in the concept of the concert, klezmer is in Hebrew a “tool of memory” - a term that uniquely aptly captures the nature of this meeting.

At the center of this mystery will be the violin. One instrument, and so many opportunities to tell about human emotions. Sounds will become more than a melody here, they will evoke images, awaken memories and touch what is often difficult to express in words. In the songs of the old, forgotten world we find both longing and tenderness, melancholy, but also traces of life that once pulsated among people, their daily meetings and rituals.

“The Mystery of Light and Darkness” is a dialogue of two realities - presence and absence, memory and oblivion, light and shadow. It is an invitation to listen carefully, but also to reflect on what remains of people and their stories. On a memory that can be painful and beautiful at the same time, and on the bonds that time does not break.

Mikołaj Kostka is a graduate of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, co-creator of Raczkowski/Kostka Duo and leader of Follow Dices. His musical path includes jazz, improvised and klezmer music, as well as numerous concert projects realized in Poland and abroad. He is also a member of the band Klezmøret, with whom he released the album “The Mystery of Light” in 2022. In his work, he combines different musical worlds, seeking in them a space for emotions, sensitivity and stories.

In November, when the world slows down for a moment, it is worth indulging in such a meeting. No rush, no need to look for answers. With an openness to sounds that can lead to memories, induce reflection or simply allow you to be alone with your own thoughts.

Perhaps it is in this musical silence that we will find something that escapes our attention every day - a trace of the past, our own emotions or a new perspective on what lies ahead.

We invite you to the concert “Mystery of Light and Darkness” as part of the series “In the Music Club”. Let it be an evening of attentive listening, an encounter with history and music that does not need many words to move the most tender strings of the soul.

In the music club | Mikołaj Kostka “Mystery of Light and Darkness” 5 November 2026 (Thursday) 7:00pm Kubowa Sala KOK Kościański Cultural Centre, ul. A. Mickiewicza 11 in Kościan

Tickets: 25 PLN/20 PLN with KKM

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