orchestra
O artyście
The Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra has been working continuously since 1945. The philharmonic played its first concert on 26 May that year. Under the baton of Jan Niwiński and Faustyn Kulczycki, they performed works by Polish composers – F. Chopin, S. Moniuszko, M. Karłowicz, Z. Noskowski, L. Różycki and F. Kulczycki. In the following years, the positions of artistic directors of the Silesian Philharmonic and conductors of the orchestra were held by, among others, W. Krzemieński, S. Skrowaczewski, K. Stryja, J. Salwarowski and M.J. Błaszczyk. Currently, it is Yaroslav Shemet who is the artistic director and conductor of the orchestra.
From the very beginning of its activity, the orchestra has participated in many Polish and foreign music festivals. It is regularly invited to such events as the Warsaw Autumn, Wratislavia Cantans and Music in Old Cracow. As far as foreign festivals are concerned, the orchestra has performed in La Chaise Dieu, Sion-Valais, Prague, Ruse, Lucca, Halle, Kiel, Ostrava, Vienna, Linz, Berlin, Lisbon, Mariánské Lázně, Brno, Varna, Athens, Taipei and Barcelona, among others.
The orchestra has given world premieres of over 80 works, including by such composers as H.M. Górecki, K. Penderecki, W. Kilar, T. Baird, A. Dobrowolski, A. Glinkowski, J.W. Hawel, E. Knapik, A. Lasoń, A. Nowak and J. Świder. The orchestra went on its first foreign tour in May 1958, giving two concerts in the then Czechoslovakia. Since then, the ensemble has gone on over 200 foreign tours, giving concerts throughout Europe as well as in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
The orchestra’s recording output includes over 40 recordings for Polish and global labels. One of its greatest achievements in this field is the recording of all symphonic, vocal and orchestral and cantata and oratorio works by Szymanowski for the Marco Polo – NAXOS company. The album with works by Gershwin received ‘gold’ status. In recent years, the orchestra has recorded, among others, the Silesian Rhapsody by J.A.P. Kaczmarek and works by H.M. Górecki: Sanctus Adalbertus, Beatus Vir, Concerto-Cantata and Canticum Graduum.