The Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra was founded on the initiative of Jerzy Semkow, one of Poland’s most distinguished conductors. Established by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage on 1 October 2007, it is a state artistic institution. Its principal mission is to provide young musicians with opportunities for orchestral debut and to prepare them for careers in professional orchestras. The ensemble is composed of the most talented graduates of Polish music academies under the age of thirty.
Sinfonia Iuventus began its artistic activity in June 2008. Since then, it has collaborated with numerous renowned conductors, including Jerzy Semkow, Kazimierz Kord, Jan Krenz, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gabriel Chmura, Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Strugała, John Axelrod, Charles Dutoit, Agnieszka Duczmal, Nicolae Moldoveanu, Juozas Domarkas, Grzegorz Nowak, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Mikhail Jurowski, Kirill Karabits, Tadeusz Kozłowski, Andrzej Boreyko, Marek Pijarowski, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk, Jerzy Salwarowski, George Tchitchinadze, Evgeny Volynsky, Gerd Schaller, Eugene Tzigane, Massimiliano Caldi, Andriy Yurkevych, Ruben Silva, Paweł Przytocki, Paul Esswood, Piotr Sułkowski, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Jerzy Swoboda, Monika Wolińska, Wojciech Rodek, Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski, Łukasz Borowicz, Marek Moś, Krzysztof Herdzin, Marek Wroniszewski, Johannes Wildner, Juya Shin, Alexandr Iradyan, Susanna Mälkki, Michał Klauza, Norbert Twórczyński, Maciej Tworek, Joanna Natalia Ślusarczyk, Julian Gilewski, and Mirian Khukhunaishvili.
The orchestra has also worked with many distinguished soloists, among them Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Piotr Paleczny, Ivan Monighetti, Zakhar Bron, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Daniel Stabrawa, Paweł Kowalski, Aleksandra Kurzak, Roman Lasocki, Roberto Alagna, Tatiana Shebanova, Janusz Olejniczak, Jonathan Plowright, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Eugen Indjic, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Olga Pasichnyk, Jadwiga Rappé, Vadim Repin, Jan Stanienda, Tomasz Strahl, Jakub Haufa, Łukasz Długosz, Alena Baeva, Leszek Możdżer, Yulianna Avdeeva, Bomsori Kim, Agata Szymczewska, Jakub Jakowicz, Piotr Pławner, Patrycja Piekutowska, Łukasz Kuropaczewski, José Torres, Adam Bałdych, Mateusz Smoczyński, Hyuk Lee, Rafał Bartmiński, Iwona Hossa, Piotr Nowacki, Olga Szomańska, Patrick Gallois, Michael Lethiec, Claudio Bohórquez, Stathis Karapanos, Alicja Śmietana, Jakub Waszczeniuk, Małgorzata Walewska, Heidi Stober, Aleksandra Świgut, Piotr Orzechowski, and Seina Matsuoka.
The orchestra has made numerous recordings for labels and broadcasters including Universal Music, CD Accord, DUX, Polish Radio, Albany Records, TVP Kultura, and Warner Classics. A special place in its discography is occupied by two symphonic albums, Schubert (2008) and Tchaikovsky (2010), recorded under the baton of Jerzy Semkow. Equally significant are the recordings of Krzysztof Penderecki’s music conducted by the composer himself, including the complete symphonies (2010-2012) and a series of concertos (2014-2023).
Several of these recordings have received major distinctions, including the International Classical Music Award (2014 and 2016) and the Fryderyk Award for Album of the Year – Concert Music (2021).
The orchestra’s recorded repertoire also includes works by numerous Polish composers, among them Fryderyk Chopin, Grażyna Bacewicz, Zygmunt Stojowski, Józef Koffler, Karol Kurpiński, Roman Palester, Henryk Wieniawski, Mikołaj Górecki, Krzysztof Meyer, Stanisław Moryto, Roman Statkowski, Antoni Szałowski, and Piotr Moss.
The orchestra has appeared in leading concert halls and festivals in Poland and abroad, including the Musikverein in Vienna, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, the Grand Auditorium UNESCO and Palais de la Musique et des Congrès in France, the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Grande Auditório in Portugal, as well as venues in Italy, Switzerland, Lithuania, and Ukraine.
Since April 2009, the orchestra has been a member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO), and since September 2018, a member of the Association of Polish Philharmonic Orchestras. Between 2013 and 2020, Krzysztof Penderecki served as its Honorary Artistic Patron. In October 2018, the orchestra officially adopted the name of Jerzy Semkow.