Waldemar Dąbrowski
Minister of Culture of the Polish Republic

   We owe it to the Festival organisers' care that each year famous Polish and foreign artists come to Krynica, while renowned opera and operetta companies perform at the Festival concerts. The music presented during the festival days forms an unbreakable bond, a common ground for the performers and the Festival's faithful audience.
   It is with great joy that we have noted that The European Jan Kiepura Festival in Krynica has become the most attractive summer festival in our part of Europe, drawing audiences with its originality and an exceptionally colourful formula which combines the opera, the operetta, the theatre and the concert show.
   I should like to express my heartfelt thanks to Bogusław Kaczyński, the founder of the Festival, for his meritorious initiative, and my wish for the summer festivities in Krynica to continue in future years and thus exert their steady influence on Polish culture.
   My wish for the Festival's faithful audience is that contact with music, in particular with the vocal art, whose greatest master is the patron of the Festival, should become for them a fertile source of artistic satisfaction.

I should like to congratulate the Festival organisers, its indefatigable Director, Mr Bogusław Kaczyński, the municipal and regional authorities, on the successful organisation of one of the most significant events on the map of Polish culture. My genuine thanks to all those who, with their talent, hard work and passion, have brought newfound fame to the Polish culture and enhanced the image of Krynica as the jewel of Polish health resorts.

Aleksander Kwaśniewski
President of the Polish Republic