NARODOWA ORKIESTRA SYMFONICZNA POLSKIEGO RADIA W 
KATOWICACH

An ambassador of Polish culture on the international artistic scene, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR) has collaborated with some of the greatest composers of the second half of the twentieth century, Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki, giving first performances of their works.

The NOSPR was founded 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 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, by Jacek Kaspszyk.

In September 2000, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa became the institution’s General and Programme Director. On 31 August 2012, Alexander Liebreich became the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the NOSPR. Since September 2018, Ewa Bogusz-Moore is NOSPR’s General and Programme Director. 

Apart from making archival recordings for the Polish Radio, the Orchestra has recorded more than 200 CD albums for many renowned record companies. It has been honoured with numerous awards for its phonographic achievements, including Diapason d’Or, Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque, Cannes Classical Award, and MIDEM Classical Award. In January 2017, the Szymanowski, Lutosławski recording, featuring NOSPR conducted by Alexander Liebreich with Gautier Capuçon as soloist, won the International Classical Music Award. 

The Orchestra has performed with many renowned conductors and soloists throughout the world. In recent years, the NOSPR has implemented numerous interntionally acclaimed projects: The Marathon of Górecki’s Works, two editions of Musical Sea Voyage, and A Train to Kilar’s Music. Since 2005, the NOSPR has organised the biennial Polish Modern Music Festival of World Premieres, whose 7th edition was nominated for the Coryphaeus of Polish Music Award in 2017 award in the Event of the Year category.