History

The orchestra was born out of our passion for music. In the early 1990s, when the wind of change blew in the new reality, several talented musicians connected in Krakow. It all took place in the city of culture, drawing deeply from both the energy of the academia and grand musical traditions.

Krakow Young Chamber Musicians – a group of remarkable students of the Academy of Music in Krakow took the name that in the beginning was simply a common denominator of their enjoyment of playing music together. As it soon turned out, the passion and commitment became the trademark of one of the leading chamber orchestras in Poland.

In 1992, Robert Kabara took over artistic direction of the ensemble. He was already an accomplished violinist and violist, recipient of numerous awards, including the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition.

In that period, the distinctive string sound and fresh interpretations garnered excellent reviews and attracted the attention of audiences, particularly listeners hungry for new music and unusual artistic projects.

1994 brought more big changes. Polish currency underwent the process of redenomination, and the stock market in young free-market reality encountered its first turbulence. The Krakow district of Kazimierz—now a Mecca for tourists—was not yet particularly inviting. “Friends” reigned supreme on TV screens while in cinemas films like “Three colours: Red”, “The Lion King”, “Pulp Fiction” or “The Schindler’s List” had their premieres. Steven Spielberg’s crew had filmed the latter in Krakow just a year before.

In the 90s, the musical landscape of Krakow changed as well. It became clear for the musicians and the community that further activities require solid foundations and a new shape. The principal champions of the municipal patronage for the young orchestra were first and foremost Elżbieta and Krzysztof Penderecki. With the support of numerous musical authorities, they managed to convince the Krakow City Council and so it came to be:

on 25 of May 1994 the Krakow City Council passed a resolution to establish the Orchestra of the Capital Royal City of Krakow Sinfonietta Cracovia.

The orchestra launched its institutional operations in October 1994. 20 artists under the direction of Robert Kabara found their first home in Dworek Białoprądnicki, a small historical manor house where during rehearsals the unique style and sound of the ensemble crystallized. Initially, the concerts were organized no more often than once a month, and musicians performed on their private instruments. Despite obvious difficulties, the ensemble quickly gained momentum. Ambitious projects, including recordings, had a positive impact of the development of the orchestra.

Also in 1994, Sinfonietta Cracovia debuted on the international stage—it was a performance at the famous Alte Oper in Frankfurt conducted by professor Penderecki himself, with soloists: Tabea Zimmermann, Irena Grafenauer and Janusz Olejniczak. But it was only the beginning of this story.

Under the direction of Robert Kabara and with him as the concert master and soloist, Sinfonietta Cracovia developed its individual style, achieved considerable success and made numerous recordings. The role of Adam Balas, violinist and the orchestra manager in the years 1997-2010, is invaluable as well. He was the initiator of numerous artistic projects and had significant impact on the creation of the image of an ensemble open to various musical genres.

The stature of the orchestra was further confirmed by the fact that in 2001-2009, eminent American conductor John Axelrod was its guest conductor. Under his direction, together with Camerata Silesia choir, the ensemble participated in the BBC programme: „Holocaust; A Music Memorial Film from Auschwitz”, recording excerpts from W.A. Mozart’s Requiem and H.M. Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 in the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau former concentration camp. The presentation received the International Emmy Award in 2005.

Some of the ensemble musicians had the privilege of participating in the anniversary Polish Festival Orchestra project. 40 concerts in Europe and the United States, as well as a record made for the Deutsche Grammophone label with Krystian Zimmerman indicated one of the directions for the development of the ensemble which expanded its experience and repertoire with every new collaboration with subsequent conductors and soloists.

In 2008, a new chapter in the Orchestra history was launched with the collaboration with Jerzy Dybał, double bass of the Vienna Philharmonic, conductor and animator of musical life who, thanks to his experience in working with the soloists of the Vienna Ballet and Opera, or multimedia spectaculars production, brought to Krakow a brand-new perspective on classical music.

With his dynamic stage persona and unobvious ideas for operating within the city space, the new orchestra director drew and gained a faithful audience for the ensemble, which enabled Sinfonietta Cracovia to begin performing in various venues across the city (including shopping malls, the airport or even a tram!). The orchestra began once again to perform with the “stars” of classical music, including Vienna-based guest artists invited to Krakow. There was no shortage of further inspirations—such as concert tours—including the furthest one, to China, in 2015. In 2017, the role of the guest conductor was entrusted to Venezuelan Rafael Payare.

In 2019, the orchestra moved its offices and artistic base to the Łokietka street in Krakow. At the time, a new venue with a concert hall seemed to be a distant perspective.

The first serious test of the ensemble’s resilience was the period of “freezing” live performances during the COVID-19 pandemic when the orchestra separated from the audience focused on audio and video recordings, and promotional activities. On 29 March 2020 Krzysztof Penderecki passed away in Krakow. Due to the pandemic sanitary regime, the funeral was organised two years lates, and the ensemble accompanied the master on his last journey. It was certainly an end of an era in the history of the orchestra.

In the second half of 2021, as a result of a competition for the post of the Sinfonietta Cracovia director, the management of the ensemble was entrusted to the managerial and artistic duo: Agata Grabowiecka, producer of music events, and Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak, conductor previously working with Teatr Wielki in Poznan, among others. In the beginning of 2024, the role of the honorary conductor was accepted by Dirk Brossé, Belgian composer, conductor and artistic director of World Soundtrack Awards, among others.

The challenges of the new era proved to be very serious: building a cultural offer in a changing cultural landscape and preparing Sinfonietta Cracovia to move to its new home, the Centre of Music currently being constructed in Cichy Kącik. The new formula for managing the Ensemble turned out to be the beginning of dynamic changes heading towards building an orchestra open to the future. The first achievements of this initial term should include Sinfonietta Cracovia becoming once again known abroad as the flagship Krakow orchestra after the difficult period of the pandemic, the concerts in prestigious venues in Porto and Amsterdam, as well as the US tour during which Sinfonietta performed the programme of both Polish and American music in the presence of Philip Glass himself. The initial tenure of the new management was also marked by more visibility of the orchestra in the world of film: soundtrack recordings for Netflix, appearances at festivals in Gdynia and Tenerife.

The Orchestra has also become more active in terms of performing new music, participating in major festivals in Poland, and commissioning original music from leading Polish composers. It has been supported in its ambitious endeavours by the Programming Board appointed by the management – a body featuring eminent members of the music community.

An important milestone for the Ensemble was the purchase of historical master instruments from the best ateliers in Europe for the entire orchestra, which allowed Sinfonietta’s emblematic string sound to shine anew. Despite the changing surroundings, one thing remained constant: the ardent passion for music and the need to share live performance emotions with the audience.