April 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of the historic concerts of the outstanding violinist Yehudi Menuhin at the Warsaw Philharmonic with a symphony orchestra established for the occasion, built around the strings core from Jerzy Maksymiuk’s Polish Chamber Orchestra. After these concerts, an offer to conduct the orchestra was made to Menuhin by its then manager Franciszek Wybrańczyk and Studio Art Center director Waldemar Dąbrowski. Led by the new first guest conductor, the ensemble soon began to give regular concerts under the name Sinfonia Varsovia – from 1997 co-led by Krzysztof Penderecki as music director and then artistic director. For years, the orchestra celebrated this founding act with festive birthday concerts held in the spring at Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, but decided to mark its 40th anniversary with a year-long birthday series.
The concerts will be held in Warsaw at the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, the Witold Lutosławski Concert Studio of the Polish Radio and the Warsaw Philharmonic, as well as at the Szczecin Philharmonic and the Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk. As one of the country’s leading orchestral ensembles, boasting an international brand, Sinfonia Varsovia is also a regular guest at important Polish and foreign festivals. This year, it will perform at anniversary events including the International Piano Festival of La Roque-d’Anthéron, the La Folle Journée Festival in Nantes, the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival in Ostrava, the Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, Eufonie Festival and the Chopin and His Europe Festival. During the latter, it will premiere, among other things, the Piano Concerto by conductor–composer Jerzy Maksymiuk with soloist Janusz Olejniczak.
The invited artists will include figures of particular importance to the orchestra’s history: whether as its previous directors – such as conductors Jerzy Maksymiuk and Marc Minkowski – or people with whom it has important, long–standing artistic ties, such as conductor Jacek Kaspszyk, pianist Piotr Anderszewski and violinist Daniel Hope. There will also be other significant names whose relationship with Sinfonia Varsovia is shorter, such as great individuals Marek Janowski and Pinchas Zukerman, as well as outstanding artists of younger generations: conductors Alejandro Cantalapiedra, Martijn Dendievel and Henrik Nánási, violinists Gordan Nikolić, Josef Špaček and Arabella Steinbacher. Characteristically for Sinfonia Varsovia as an ensemble that pays special attention to chamber music – in concerts with Piotr Anderszewski, Daniel Hope, Gordan Nikolić and Pinchas Zukerman, it will perform without conductors, led by the soloists from their instruments.
