NATIONAL POLISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IN KATOWICE
The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra is an ambassador representing Polish culture on the international artistic scene. The Orchestra collaborated with some of the greatest composers of the second half of the 20th century: Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki, presenting first performances of their works.
The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra was created in 1935 in Warsaw by Grzegorz Fitelberg who led it until the outbreak of World War II. In 1945, the orchestra was revived in Katowice by Witold Rowicki. In 1947, the post of the artistic director was taken over again by Fitelberg. After his death in 1953, the orchestra was headed in succession by Jan Krenz, Bohdan Wodiczko, Kazimierz Kord, Tadeusz Strugała, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Stanisław Wisłocki, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antoni Wit, Gabriel Chmura and, once again, Jacek Kaspszyk. In September 2000, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa was appointed the General and Programme Director. In January 2009 Michał Klauza became the Associate Conductor. Stanisław Skrowaczewski holds the title of the first Guest Conductor of the NPRSO, Jan Krenz is a Honorary Director and the function of Artistic Advisor is fulfilled by Jerzy Semkow. At the beginning of the season 2012/2013, Alexander Liebreich will become the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Apart from making archival recordings for the Polish Radio, the Orchestra recorded more than 200 CD albums for many renowned record companies (including: Decca, EMI, Philips, Chandos, Naxos). The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra was honoured with numerous awards for its phonographic achievements, including Diapason d’Or and Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque, Cannes Classical Award, MIDEM Classical Award. Many renowned conductors and soloists have performed with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Among them were Martha Argerich, Leonard Bernstein, Rudolf Buchbinder, James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, Pierre Fournier, Nicolai Gedda, Barbara Hendricks, Julius Katchen, Leonidas Kavakos, Wilhelm Kempff, Kevin Kenner, Paweł Klecki, Kirill Kondrashin, Marguerite Long, Witold Lutosławski, Charles Mackerras, Misha Maisky, Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Shlomo Mintz, Ivan Monighetti, Garrick Ohlsson, Kun Woo Paik, Krzysztof Penderecki, Maurizio Pollini, Hermann Prey, Ruggiero Ricci, Mstislav Rostropovich, Artur Rubinstein, Jerzy Semkow, En Shao, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Isaac Stern, Henryk Szeryng, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Pieter Wispelwey, Krystian Zimerman, and Nicolai Znaider.
The Orchestra has performed in nearly all European countries, in Americas, as well as in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan and in the Persian Gulf countries. In recent years, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra implemented some spectacular projects which were very well received by the audience and reviewers (The Marathon of Górecki’s Works, A Liking for Kilar’s Music, Musical Voyage (two editions), The Górecki•Penderecki Festival – in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the artist’s birth). Since 2005, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra has been the organiser of the biennial event called The Festival of World Premieres – Polish Modern Music.
