{oh!} Orkiestra was founded in 2012. During ten years of its activity, the constantly evolving ensemble under the helm of its leader Martyna Pastuszka, has gained the reputation of the greatest early music orchestra in Poland and one of the most musically interesting ones on the European scene. {oh!} Orkiestra currently cooperates with major Polish cultural institutions such as Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and Adam Mickiewicz Institute as well as the festivals Misteria Paschalia, All’Improvviso, Chopin and his Europe and Actus Humanus.

The ensemble is also widely acclaimed in the international arena, as reflected by the concerts in the most significant concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Theater an der Wien, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Auditorium de l’Opéra de Dijon, Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Kölner Philharmonie and at major festivals in Europe such as Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, Bachfest Leipzig, Händel-Festspiele in Halle, Tage Alter Musik in Herne, Stockholm Early Music Festival and Telemann Tage in Magdeburg.

{oh!} Orkiestra has released nine CD albums and has been broadcasted in German, British, Austrian, Swedish, Czech, Slovak and Russian radio stations as well as appeared on Mezzo, Medici.tv, Polish Radio 2 and Arte TV. In 2021 Polish Public Television Kultura has recorded a documentary about Martyna Pastuszka and {oh!} titled “Nie jestem maestro” [Don’t call me maestro].

Together with the Festival of Improvised Early Music All’Improvviso based in Gliwice and Viennese Parnassus Arts Productions agency {oh!} Orkiestra constantly rediscovers forgotten baroque opera repertoire. As of today, the orchestra has premiered staged versions of Domenico Sarri’s Didone abbandonata, Johann Adolf Hasse’s Arminio and Leonardo Vinci’s Alessandro nell’Indie as well as concert versions of Leonardo Vinci’s Gismondo re di Polonia and Antonio Caldara’s Il Venceslao.

The year 2022 brought a fruitful cooperation with Misteria Paschalia Festival in Cracow, as the orchestra was invited to be a resident ensemble with Martyna Pastuszka as the Artistic Director in Residence. The orchestra also served as resident ensemble at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival 2022.

Since 2018, the orchestra has been regularly cooperating with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. So far, the Institute has released {oh!} CDs dedicated to Gołąbek and Kurpiński works as well as the album with symphonic works by Lipiński and Moniuszko. Thanks to this satisfying cooperation {oh!} Orkiestra has received the invitation to record the complete set of Mozart symphonies. The contract predicts 6-7 years for the recording process, intensively involving the {oh!} Orkiestra in many other activities concerning Polish romantic music during that time.

Photo (c) Magdalena Hałas