PSM stands for państwowa szkoła muzyczna — the state music school, of which Poland maintains one in almost every town of any size, teaching an instrument alongside the ordinary school curriculum. The concert hall of the Kalisz school serves its pupils and the town's wider concert life. Among the events it has housed is the Amber Road festival, named for the Roman trade route that ran through Kalisz on its way from the Adriatic to the Baltic.