Chopin to launch Euro 2012

The National Stadium in Warsaw

The ceremony will take place just twenty minutes before kick-off at the opening match between Poland and Greece, with more than 150 million international viewers expected to witness the spectacle on television screens across the globe.

The twelve-minute ceremony will see a carefully choreographed pageant involving some 800 volunteer performers from 63 countries.

According to UEFA, the spectacle will “combine heritage and innovation, to bring sport and culture together,” and it will also “promote the participating nations together with key EURO values: unity, rivalry and passion.”

The concept for the show was created by Italian impresario Marco Balich, creative director of countless major events, including the opening and closing ceremonies of the Turin Winter Olympics of 2006.

Hungarian pianist Adam Gyorgy will have the honour of playing Poland's best-loved composer during the ceremony, and the chosen piece is the Étude in A minor (Op.25 Nr.11). (nh)