Performers

WOSPR IN KATOWICE

The Great Symphony Orchestra of Polish Radio (WOSPR) in Katowice (now as the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, NOSPR) was founded in 1935 in Warsaw by Grzegorz Fitelberg, who directed it until World War II. In 1945 it was reactivated by Witold Rowicki in Katowice. In 1947 the post of its artistic director was taken up again by Fitelberg; after the latter’s death in 1953 the Orchestra was directed by Jan Krenz, Bohdan Wodiczko, Kazimierz Kord, Tadeusz Strugała, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Stanisław Wisłocki, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antoni Wit, Gabriel Chmura, and again Jacek Kaspszyk.

Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa was its general and programme director in 2000–2018, and her successor since September 2018 is Ewa Bogusz-Moore. In 2012–2019 Alexander Liebreich was the NOSPR’s principal conductor and artistic director, now succeeded by Maestro Lawrence Foster.

Apart from recording for the Polish Radio archives, the Orchestra boasts a discography of more than 200 albums, some of which earned the NOSPR the titles of Diapason d’Or, Grand Prix du Disque, and International Classical Music Awards.

The orchestra has toured extensively and appeared in festivals worldwide. It has presented such projects as the Marathon of Górecki’s Works, A Train to Kilar’s Music, and Musical Sea Voyage. Since 2015 the NOSPR – winner of the special ICMA 2018 award – has organised Katowice’s Culture Nature Festival, and since 2005 – the Festival of Premieres ‘Polish Modern Music’. In 2018, the NOSPR became a member of ECHO, the union of Europe’s best concert halls.
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