A chorus has been part of the Teatr Wielki almost from the venue’s very inception, gracing opera performances and dramatic plays. Starting from the 19th century, press reviews of Teatr Wielki’s productions have been full of praise for the chorus’s performance.
The theatre’s reopening in 1965 after it was almost totally destroyed in a 1939 bombing, gave a new impetus to the chorus’s development. The rebuilt, big stage needed a powerful chorus, which soon became an important asset of Warsaw’s opera performances. Since than we have been seeing a continuous development of the chorus, led by its subsequent chorus masters: Józef Bok, Zofia Urbanyi-Świrska, Henryk Wojnarowski, Lech Gorywoda, Bogdan Gola, and Jan Szyrocki.
Today, the chorus takes part in opera productions, symphony concerts, and has its own concert schedule presenting. The chorus has toured with the Polish National Opera, performing on Europe’s leading stages as well as in China and Japan. Currently, the chorus is led by Mirosław Janowski.
