Sinfonia Varsovia was formed in April 1984, following the expansion of the Polish Chamber Orchestra and the arrival of the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin, who came to Poland at the invitation of Waldemar Dąbrowski, director of the Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz Art Centre ‘Studio’ in Warsaw, and the orchestra’s director Franciszek Wybrańczyk. The concerts of Sinfonia Varsovia and Maestro Menuhin quickly gained public recognition and Menuhin became the first guest conductor of Sinfonia Varsovia. Shortly afterwards, Sinfonia Varsovia embarked on a world tour, performing in the world’s most prestigious concert halls. The orchestra’s extensive repertory, including works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Beethoven and Krzysztof Penderecki, has led to collaborations with a large number of conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Witold Lutosławski, Lorin Maazel and soloists including Piotr Anderszewski, Martha Argerich and Anne-Sophie Mutter. To date, the orchestra has given more than 4,000 concerts on all five continents and recorded more than 300 albums.
In 1997, Krzysztof Penderecki, Poland’s most prominent composer, became the orchestra’s music director and subsequently, between 2003 and 2020, its artistic director. In 2004, Franciszek Wybrańczyk entrusted the position of director of Sinfonia Varsovia to a longstanding musician in the ensemble, Janusz Marynowski, who still holds the role today.
