The concert is to be held in St Peter and Paul’s Church but, thanks to a direct line to the Main Market Square, it will most probably attract an audience of several thousand gathered in front of huge TV screens there.

The programme will consist of Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and ‘A Peace Prelude’ written specially for the occasion by the famous Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki.

The World Orchestra for Peace was founded by Sir Georg Solti in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations and has since given thirteen concerts in venues which are particularly suited to promoting world peace. The ensemble brings together members of the world’s seventy leading orchestras from forty countries. It will be the orchestra’s first appearance in Poland.

The concert will be a major promotion for Poland and Krakow, with a live transmission on Polish Television’s Channel Two and CNN.