{oh!} Orkiestra
Biography
{oh!} Orkiestra was founded in 2012 in Silesia, a region in southwest Poland. The ensemble unites specialists in the field of historically informed performance practice around its music director, violinist Martyna Pastuszka. Over the past decade, the ensemble has established itself as one of Europe’s leading orchestras exploring a wide repertoire ranging from Baroque to early 20th Century music.
The ensemble collaborates regularly with established Polish cultural institutions and festivals including the Silesian Museum Katowice, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. For the All'Improvviso Festival in Gliwice, {oh!} Orkiestra rendered opera performances of Sarri’s Didone abbandonata, Hasse’s Arminio and Cajo Fabricio, Vinci’s Gismondo, re di Polonia, and Handel’s Il pastor fido. Since 2018, {oh!} Orkiestra develops a pluriannual partnership with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute presenting various Baroque and Romantic programmes within the International Music Festival ‘Chopin and his Europe’. {oh!} Orkiestra is resident orchestra at NOSPR in Katowice, Poland.
Over the years, {oh!} Orkiestra confirmed its international first-class repute performing at prominent opera houses, concert halls and festivals including Theater an der Wien, Staatsoper Berlin, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Cologne Philharmony, Bachfest Leipzig, the Handel Festival in Halle, Tage Alter Musik in Herne and Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival.
In the season 2021/22, {oh!} Orkiestra will perform at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Barocktage in Berlin, the Telemann Festtage in Magdeburg, Actus Humanus in Gdansk, and Misteria Paschalia in Krakow. In September 2022, the ensemble is named orchestra in residence for the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival where they will play various repertoires including a new production of Vinci’s Alessandro nell’Indie staged by Max Emanuel Cencic and conducted by Martyna Pastuszka.
The discography of the ensemble includes many revered releases including a few opuses celebrating the Polish composers Jakub Gołąbek and Karol Kurpiński recorded for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. Other releases include Vinci’s Gismondo, re di Polonia (Parnassus Arts Productions) featuring countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic in the title role. Acclaimed by the press, this recording was nominated for the Opus Klassik 2021 in the category "Orchestra/Ensemble of the Year", as well as the Koryfeusz Muzyki Polskiej and the German Record Critics’ Award Association Awards. Future releases include Karol Lipiński’s Symphonies (NIFCCD), Telemann’s Early cantatas with Ensemble Polyharmonique (CPO) and L.J. Marchand’s Suites for violin, basse de viol and continuo (Aparté).
(2022_03_20. Please only use this biography.)