LA FOLLE JOURNEE DE VARSOVIE

“(...) It is hard to believe you’re hearing a school orchestra, where the youngest musician is 13 and the oldest is 18. Passion, extraordinary focus and, above all, musicality and maturity of tone combined with surprisingly tight playing from musicians this young all made an indelible impression on the audience…” Twoja Muza no. 6 (37)

The orchestra was established in 1992. Its first director and leader was Professor Mirosław Ławrynowicz. A specific method of playing, an orchestra without a conductor, a professor playing together with his students have resulted in numerous achievements in concert, as well as in excellent orchestral skills of the students and graduates.

Andrzej Gębski has been the artistic director and first violinist of the orchestra since 2002. It was on his initiative that the orchestra was given the name the Zenon Brzewski Warsaw String Orchestra.

The ensemble is made up of young musicians – all string instrument students of the elite Brzewski school for the highly talented. The orchestra also features guest musicians who are graduates of the school.

Made up of many talented musicians, the ensemble has achieved a level of playing which gives it full rights to perform in the most highly renowned concert halls.

The orchestra is involved in intensive artistic activities, performing regularly at the National Philharmonic and in the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. The orchestra has also performed in other cities in Poland, as well as abroad at the 19^th Youth Orchestra Festival in Murcia (spain) in 2000, at the Youth Orchestra Festival in Belfort (France) in 2001, at the Bern Conservatory, in the prestigious UNESCO concert hall, performing in a concert concluding the 11^th Milosz Magin International Competition in Paris, at the Chopin Conservatory in Paris and at the 20^th jubilee Organ Conservatorium in Legnica, at the 10^th Lutosławski Forum at the National Philharmonic, 32^nd International Marschner Festiwal in Hinterzarten, at the jubilee concert of the 15^th Streichakademie In Goch (Germany), at the “Musica Sacra” International Festival in Warsaw and many times during the International Music Courses in Łańcut. Each time, the orchestra has garnered enthusiastic reviews and high praise from authorities in the field of music.

The ensemble has made many recordings for Polish Radio and Television. It has made 12 world premiere recordings of Polish music and recorded for the Acte Préalable label (Romuald Twardowski’s complete works for string orchestra and the composer’s Violin Concerto, as well as the Violin Concerto by Naji Hakim).

The orchestra’s repertoire encompasses all periods, from the baroque to contemporary music. With excellent reviews after each concert, the orchestra receives numerous invitations to play in prestigious music events.