Gdańsk Music Festival

Sinfonia Varsovia

In April of 1984, Waldemar Dąbrowski, director of the St. I. Witkiewicz Studio Centre for the Arts in Warsaw and Franciszek Wybrańczyk, director of the then extant Polish Chamber Orchestra invited the legendary violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin to perform in Poland as soloist and conductor. To match the exigencies of the planned repertoire, the orchestra increased the number of its members, inviting renowned musicians from all over Poland to perform together. The ensemble’s initial concerts under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin were enthusiastically applauded by audiences and praised by critics, while Lord Menuhin himself did not hesitate to accept the management’s proposal to become the first guest conductor of the newly established Sinfonia Varsovia.

Sinfonia Varsovia performs in the world’s most celebrated concert halls and at the most important festivals, working together with world-class conductors and soloists.

Since 2010, the Sinfonia Varsovia has been organising the La Folle Journée Festival in Warsaw together with René Martin, director of the French C.R.E.A. association. Of special note is the Franciszek Wybrańczyk Sinfonia Varsovia to Its City Festival, initiated in 2001 by Franciszek Wybrańczyk.

Sinfonia Varsovia has made numerous recordings on compact disc and for radio and television. Its discography amounts to 300 albums, many of which received prestigious music awards.

Krzysztof Penderecki became the orchestra’s musical director in 1997 and its artistic director in 2003.

The Sinfonia Varsovia’s coordinator is the Capital City Of Warsaw. In 2015, in the presence of the President of the capital city of Warsaw, Ms. Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, architect Thomas Pucher and Janusz Marynowski, director of the Sinfonia Varsovia signed a contract for the delivery of design documentation for a new concert hall for Sinfonia Varsovia and for the development of the property at 272 Grochowska Street. The first concert in the new venue is to take place in Spring 2024.

In 2019 the Sinfonia Varsovia celebrated the 35th Anniversary of its activity.