Sinfonia Varsovia

In 1984, invited by Waldemar Dąbrowski, director ofthe Witkiewicz Studio Centre for the Arts in Warsaw,and Franciszek Wybrańczyk, director of the PolishChamber Orchestra, the legendary violinist YehudiMenuhin arrived in Poland to perform as soloist andconductor. To meet the exigencies of the repertoire,the orchestra invited distinguished musicians from allover Poland to take part. The ensemble’s first concerts,conducted by Menuhin, were received enthusiasticallyby audiences and critics, and the maestro accepted theinvitation to become the first guest conductor of thenewly established orchestra – Sinfonia Varsovia.Sinfonia Varsovia performs in the world’s mostprestigious concert halls and important festivals,collaborating with world-renowned conductors andsoloists.Since 2010, together with René Martin, artistic directorof the Centre for Artistic Research and Creationin Nantes, the Sinfonia has organised the La FolleJournée Festival in Warsaw. Another noteworthyevent organised by the orchestra is the FranciszekWybrańczyk Sinfonia Varsovia for Its City Festival, whichWybrańczyk started in 2001.The orchestra has made many album, and radio andtelevision recordings, and boasts a discography of over270 CDs, many awarded prestigious prizes. In 1997,Professor Krzysztof Penderecki became the ensemble’smusic director, and in 2003 – its artistic director as well.Sinfonia Varsovia is coordinated by the Capital Cityof Warsaw. In 2015, in the presence of the Mayor ofWarsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, architect ThomasPucher and the orchestra’s director Janusz Marynowskisigned an agreement for a project involving thepreparation of a design documentation for a newconcert hall for Sinfonia Varsovia, and a developmentplan for the plot at ul. Grochowska 272. The firstconcert in the new concert hall is slated for the springof 2022.