Lithuania honours Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki

An oak has been planted in the Vytautas Magnus university Botanical Garden in Kaunas to honour the late Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, who was a frequent visitor to Lithuania.

The ceremony brought together representatives from several Lithuanian cultural institutions, including the member of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania Vytautas Juozapaitis, director of the Kaunas State Philharmonic Justinas Krepšta, director of VMU Botanical Garden dr. Nerijus Jurkonis.

Also attending were officials from the Polish Institute in Vilnius, which helped organize the event.

Penderecki, who died in 2020, had made many visits to Lithuania and conducted his own music there on numerous occasions.

The Penderecki memorial oak at VMU Botanical Garden is part of a symbolic lane commemorating famous Poles that also features an oak dedicated to President Lech Kaczyński, who died in the 2010 air crash in western Russia; a beech tree in tribute to Tadeusz Kościuszko, a national hero in Poland and the United States; and roses named after Romantic composer Fryderyk Chopin.