Sinfonia Varsovia has been an ambassador of Polish musical culture since its inception. For over 40 years, the Orchestra has been a regular guest on foreign and domestic stages. Its foreign travels include thousands of meetings with conductors, composers, soloists, and finally – audiences.
The ensemble continues the tradition of Jerzy Maksymiuk’s Polish Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1972, from which it emerged as a result of its enlargement. The impulse to expand the ensemble was provided in 1984 by the arrival of the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who soon took over as the first guest conductor at the invitation of directors Franciszek Wybrańczyk and Waldemar Dąbrowski. “Working with no other orchestra gave me as much satisfaction as my work, as soloist and conductor, with the Sinfonia Varsovia Orchestra” – he said in interviews.
Over the years, Sinfonia Varsovia has played more than 4,000 concerts, performing in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Emmanuel Krivine, Witold Lutosławski, Lorin Maazel, Jerzy Maksymiuk and Krzysztof Penderecki (who in 1997 became the music director, and in June 2003 the artistic director of the ensemble), and alongside such soloists as Piotr Anderszewski, Martha Argerich, Alfred Brendel, Gidon Kremer, Nikolai Lugansky, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Maria João Pires and Mstislav Rostropovich.
Sinfonia Varsovia has made more than 300 records, including for Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Sony, and Warner. The recorded repertoire includes works from the 18th century to the present day. A special place in the Orchestra’s concert program is occupied by the works of Polish composers; it has premiered numerous works by composers such as Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Paweł Mykietyn and Krzysztof Penderecki.
Sinfonia Varsovia has initiated a competition for the architectural design of a music center with the largest concert hall in Poland. The investment is being made with financial support of the Capital City of Warsaw.
Since 2004, the director’s duties have been performed by Janusz Marynowski.