The Polish Chamber Orchestra was formed in 1972 as a group of 24 musicians from the Warsaw Chamber Opera’s ensemble who desired to perform chamber orchestral repertoire away from the theatrical stage. Led by a young charismatic conductor, Jerzy Maksymiuk, the orchestra spread its wings and became recognized as the Vistula Strings performing on international tours, with renowned soloists, and receiving great critical acclaim and international recognition as an ensemble with “sculpted, strongly-contoured playing” and “glistening dynamism”.

The Orchestra performed at venues such as the Barbican Center and Royal Albert Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Kennedy Center in Washington, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York City. It showcased many distinguished soloists including Gidon Kremer and Yehudi Menuhin. It performed under such conductors as Charles Dutoit, Yehudi Menuhin, and Mstislav Rostropovich. The ensemble’s breakthrough moment came when its 1977 British tour resulted in a multi-record contract with EMI. The Orchestra won multiple awards, including the Wiener Flötenuhr for best Mozart recording.

In 1983 Jerzy Maksymiuk parted ways with the Polish Chamber Orchestra. This decision was the catalyst from which emerged the Sinfonia Varsovia in 1984. The impulse for expansion was provided in 1984 by the arrival of the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin who took over as the first guest conductor. "Working with no other orchestra gave me as much satisfaction as my work, as soloist and conductor, with Sinfonia Varsovia", he said in interviews.

Soon after Sinfonia Varsovia began its world tour, performing in the world's most prestigious concert halls such as Carnegie Hall (New York), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris), Barbican Centre (London), Wiener Musikverein (Vienna), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Suntory Hall (Tokyo) and Herkulessaal (Munich). Sinfonia Varsovia has performed under the baton of such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Witold Lutosławski, Lorin Maazel, Emmanuel Krivine, Jerzy Maksymiuk, and Krzysztof Penderecki (who served as musical director and afterwards the artistic director of the Orchestra between 1997 and 2020), as well as with soloists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Alfred Brendel, Martha Argerich, and Piotr Anderszewski.

Sinfonia Varsovia reactivated the  Polish Chamber Orchestra in 2002, when the artistic directorship was taken on by the famous violinist Nigel Kennedy. At the time, the ensemble gained enthusiastic reviews and prestigious prizes thanks to extraordinary performances of music by Vivaldi and Polish composers. It culminated in the CD Polish Spirit which gained excellent reviews in the Gramophone, among others, and was awarded with Echo Klassik 2008. Kennedy’s tenure ended in 2008.

In the following years the PCO has focused on international concerts performed under the leadership of eminent soloists such as Maxim Vengerov, James Galway, and Daniel Hope – the latter of whom it has a long-lasting artistic relationship and with whom it has most recently toured internationally. With these artists Polish Chamber Orchestra has given concerts in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Switzerland, Turkey, Oman, and the USA.

Polish Chamber Orchestra operates under the auspices of Sinfonia Varsovia and is both a standalone orchestra and a cultural institution administrated by the capital city of Warsaw focusing on the chamber orchestra repertoire, maintaining the highest quality of performance, precision and vividness for which PCO has become known.