On Friday, May 9 a Gala concert was held in Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków, to mark the 650th Jubilee of the Jagiellonian University. The event was attended by the members of JU authorities: the Rector, Prof. Wojciech Nowak, Vice-Rectors: Prof. Maria-Jolanta Flis, Prof. Stanisław Kistryn, Prof. Piotr Laidler, and Prof. Andrzej Mania, as well as a number of distinguished guests, including the Governor of the Małopolskie Voivodeship, Jerzy Miller, the Marshall of the Małopolskie Voivodeship, Marek Sowa, and the President of Kraków, Prof. Jacek Majchrowski.

The performance featured the Beethoven Academy Orchestra conducted by Modestas Pitrenas, as well as soloists: Wioletta Chodowicz (soprano) and Krystian Adam Krzeszowiak (tenore). The programme consisted of pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Don Giovanni: Overture, "Ma qual mai s'offre oh Dei… Fuggi, crudele, fuggi", "Don Ottavio, son morta!… Or sai chi l'onore", "Il mio tesoro"), Pietro Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo), Ruggero Leoncavallo (Pagliacci: "Qual Fiamma Avea Nel Guardo!... Stridono Lassù", "O Colombina, il tenero fido Arlecchin'"), Jonann Strauss II ("An der schönen blauen Donau", Die Fledermaus: "Klänge der Heimat", The Gypsy Baron: "Great fame is a joke", and "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka"), and Andrew Lloyd Weber (Memory, All I ask from you). The event was led by the actress Beata Malczewska-Starowieyska.

The Beethoven Academy Orchestra is and one of the leading symphonic bands in Poland, and, at the same time, the youngest one. It is composed of people of passion: the best students and graduates of European academies of music, including Kraków Academy of Music, Staatliche Hochschule Für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart, Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Royal Music Conservatoire in Brussels, Conservatoire International de Musique in Paris, and Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz. The ensemble began its operation in 2003, following the successes at the 53rd Jünger Künstler Festival in Bayreuth.