Sinfonietta Cracovia

Sinfonietta Cracovia is one of the leading chamber ensembles of Poland and Europe. The extraordinary atmosphere of its concerts, their enthusiastic reception by the audience and, above all, the quality of their performance on stage are all evidence of the young orchestra´s constant development. The success of the Sinfonietta is also associated with its modern management approach. Depending on the repertoire, the ensemble is extended to a symphonic orchestration with a permanent wind group, consisting of some of the most eminent Polish musicians of the young generation. This allows the orchestra to further expand its repertoire, a sure way of acquiring new fans of classical music. The combination of inventive promotion of their concerts and their high artistic level have become a standard successfully made use of by an orchestra that has been managed professionally for a number of years.

Robert Kabara was invited by the musicians to lead them in 1992. Within a few months as artistic director, soloist and concertmaster, he was able to transform “the Kraków chamber musicians” into an excellent, skilful and artistically-mature ensemble.

Sinfonietta Cracovia – the name appeared in early 1994 – became a cultural institution in Kraków under the patronage of its Mayor as the Orchestra of the Royal City. Much of the credit went to the city authorities of the time and to Elżbieta and Krzysztof Penderecki, whose unwavering support for new quality in music helped establish Kraków´s youngest orchestra. John Axelrod became its Principal Guest Conductor in January 2001. Collaboration with extraordinary personalities of the world of art is now a permanent element in the life of the Sinfonietta. They include such celebrities as Krzysztof Penderecki, Christoph Eschenbach, Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Rudolf Buchbinder, Mischa Maisky, Pieter Wispelwey, Ilya Gringolts, Antoni Wit, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Barry Douglas, Kaja Danczowska, Irena Grafenauer, Tabea Zimmermann.

A part of the Orchestra were honoured to participate in a jubilee project of the “Polish Festival Orchestra” in 1999. The forty concerts given in Europe and in the United States under Krystian Zimerman, and a CD recorded for the Deutsche Grammophon label, had a tremendous impact on the ensemble´s further development.

The Sinfonietta´s appearances in such prestigious European concert halls as the Berlin Philharmonic and Konzerthaus, the Herkules Saal in Munich, the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, the Basel Casino, the Mogador Theatre in Paris, the Conservatory and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Italian theatres in Brescia, Naples and Parma, the Warsaw Philharmonic and the Zurich Tonhalle have established its international reputation. The artistic success there resulted in invitations to work with creative personalities of culture and art in Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, New York, Chicago. The orchestra´s Honorary Committee includes prime movers behind cultural events throughout the world.

The ensemble´s many recordings include prestigious TV productions for BBC Classical Music, TV ARTE, Polish Television and albums for Arion, Dux and CD Accord labels.