The PNRSO was created in 1935 in Warsaw by Grzegorz Fitelberg who led it until the outbreak of World War II. In 1945, the orchestra was revived in Katowice by Witold Rowicki. In 1947, the post of the artistic director was taken over again by Fitelberg. After his death in 1953, the orchestra was headed in succession by Jan Krenz, Bohdan Wodiczko, Kazimierz Kord, Tadeusz Strugała, Jerzy Maksymiuk, Stanisław Wisłocki, Jacek Kaspszyk, Antoni Wit, Gabriel Chmura and, once again, Jacek Kaspszyk. In September 2000, Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa was appointed the General and Programme Director. In January 2009 Michał Klauza became the Associate Conductor. Stanisław Skrowaczewski holds the title of the first Guest Conductor of the PNRSO, Jan Krenz is a Honorary Director and the function of Artistic Advisor is fulfilled by Jerzy Semkow. At the beginning of the season 2012/2013, Alexander Liebreich became the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the PNRSO.
Apart from making archival recordings for the Polish Radio, the Orchestra recorded more than 200 CD albums for many renowned record companies (including: Decca, EMI, Philips, Chandos, Naxos). The PNRSO was honoured with numerous awards for its phonographic achievements, including Diapason d’Or and Grand Prix du Disque de la Nouvelle Académie du Disque, Cannes Classical Award, Midem Classical Award.
