On 1 September, Pécs City Day — which, since 2017, has also been Hungarian Higher Education Day — commemorates the founding of Hungary’s first university in 1367; the day when the Founding Charter granted Pécs the same status as numerous internationally renowned university towns celebrated for their love of knowledge, integrating the city into the mainstream of European cultural and academic life. As a result, the culture of numerous international cities has found a home in Pécs.

This year's Gala Concert commemorates this international significance, and the guest of honour this time is Vienna during the Age of Enlightenment.

Schubert’s Overture in the Italian Style, composed by a man who lived his entire life in Vienna, reaches beyond the city; Joseph Haydn’s seldom-heard Oboe Concerto in C major, performed by Csenge Adorjáni, a member of the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, might have been composed in Hungary.

Schubert’s Symphony in B minor "Unfinished” highlights the challenge we all face: culture is never a closed chapter, but rather a recurring theme that must be constantly revisited — an ever-open topic and a community effort.

Join us and celebrate the Viennese culture that still resonates in Pécs today. The founder of the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra — which celebrates its 215th anniversary in 2026 — was a Viennese composer and conductor, and currently the orchestra performs regularly at the Musikverein in Vienna.