The Silesian Chamber Orchestra Karol Stryja founded the Silesian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in 1981. Since 1983, the band has been known by its proper name, that is the Silesian Chamber Orchestra. It is the third of the philharmonic's ensembles, which has been established by the talented string instrumentalists who have graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Music Academy in Katowice. The first Artistic Director of the chamber orchestra was its co-founder, Jan Wincenty Hawel. He was the one responsible for the orchestra's initial success. Conductor Massimiliano Caldi was entrusted with the role of the orchestra's director in period 2006-2010. Critics value the orchestra highly for its well-formed artistic character. The band has mastered a rich and diverse repertoire, consisting of pieces by the masters of baroque, classicism, and romanticism, as well as contemporary composers. New chamber arrangements of famous pieces (including sacral music) broaden the scope of the repertoire. Soon after its foundation, the orchestra began to appear at many festivals and prestigious music events in Poland and abroad (such as the Music Festival in Łańcut, Music in old Cracow, or at the international festival in Krumlovo in the Czech Republic). The orchestra has also performed at such renown concert halls as the Golden Hall in Augsburg's town hall, or Sala Verdi del Conservatorio di Milano. The Silesian Chamber Orchestra is recognised as one of the finest ensembles in its category. It has received favourable opinions from numerous acknowledged artists, including Jan Krenz, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Tadeusz Wojciechowski. Bruno Canino, Eugene Indjic, Garrick Ohlsson, Jeffrey Swann, Piotr Paleczny, Ivan Monighetti, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, Krzysztof Jakowicz, Kaja Danczowska and many others. The Silesian Chamber Music Orchestra had almost 200 concerts in European countries. During the last few years, the orchestra was touring around Germany, where an album containing Mozart piano concertos was recorded (with pianist Christopher Soldan as the soloist). Following a series of concerts in the Polish Radio Studio was a release of an album containing pieces of J.S. Bach, A. Piazzola, and K. Komeda, with Waldemar Malicki and Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk taking part in this project. In 2006, the Silesian Chamber Orchestra recorded an album containing Stanisław Moryto's Cello Concerto, which was nominated for the Fryderyk Prize that year. The most recent album (entitled Little Big Music, containing pieces by B. Britten, G. Holst, W. Lutosławski, and W. Kilar) under the baton of Massimiliano Caldi has received splendid reviews. Recently the musicians under Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk’s batton, Jean-Marc Fessard (clarinet) and Laurent Decker (oboe) recorded Clarinet Concerto, Concertino for Oboe, Clarinet and Strings (2 world premiere recordings) and Six Movements for Strings by Alexandre Tansman. Composition of the Silesian Chamber Orchestra