Society of Friends of the NOSPR

Founded in 1989 on an initiative of dedicated Katowice-based music lovers, the Society of Friends of the NOSPR is fully committed to support the Orchestra and its members.

Throughout the thirty years of its existence, it has actively engaged in seeking sponsors and donors for the Orchestra as well as negotiating and production of recordings: a total of 150 CDs for over 30 record labels, including Naxos (70 CDs), Opus One, Chandos, DUX, and Ocean Bloem Production, and, more recently, with works by A. von Zemlinsky.

The Society was also the initiator and producer of two CDs with music by W. Kilar, two carnival/New Year’s concerts, and works by G. Mahler and M. Weinberg. It has been involved in the sale of the Orchestra’s recordings (since the season 2014/2015, together with Bookiestra, a shop located by the man entrance in the NOSPR foyer) and the co-organisation of non-subscription concerts, guest concerts in Poland and abroad, and appearances at prestigious music festivals (including Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival, Wratislavia Cantans, the Górecki/ Penderecki Festival, and since 1999, the Last Night of the Proms in Kraków). The Society is the publisher of Retrospekcja (Retrospection) a fundamental primary source of information about the Orchestra, documenting its concert activity and published, according to the artistic season calendar, with the financial support from the NOSPR.

An important area of the Society’s work is the organisation of meetings – both for members and for all music lovers – with artists (among others, with Jan Krenz, Yefim Bronfman, Kazumi Kahno, Wiesław Ochman, Karol Radziwinowicz, Henryk Wojnarowski, Jouzas Domarkas, Ian Fountain, Wanda Wiłkomirska, Piotr Paleczny, Hanna Lisowska, Jadwiga Rappé, Dong-Suk Kang, Christiane Edinger, Kazimierz Kord, Eugeniusz Knapik, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Jacek Kaspszyk, Alexander Liebreich, Tadeusz Strugała, and, on more than one occasion, Antoni Wit, Gabriel Chmura, and Joanna Wnuk-Nazarowa).

Every year, we share a New Year’s toast with music lovers and participate in the costs of a New Year’s meeting for senior citizens. Together with Soroptimist International Club Silesia, we organise Children for Children events, where young artists and children of NOSPR musicians give concerts for invited guests: children from youth community centres and care and education centres in Katowice. Since the season 2008/2009, the Society has held pre-concert meetings for all music lovers – not only for members – to discuss the current concert programme. Since 2014/2015, when the Orchestra moved to the new building, the meetings have taken place in the chamber hall, usually filled to capacity. Among the invited experts are music critics, journalists, and musicologists. In recent years, our guest speakers have included Leon Markiewicz, Aleksandra Konieczna, Grażyna Brewińska, Ewa Kafel, Karol Bula, Lilianna Moll-Gerlich, Agnieszka Nowok-Zych, Marcin Majchrowski, and Marcin Trzęsiok. In 2013, for the closing of the season, we hosted Daphne Wagner, great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner.

Before the era of the Internet, the Society published Przyjaciel (Friend), an irregularly appearing journal, whose one-off issues kept music lovers informed about important events related to the Orchestra; today, electronic communication has become a more effective form of contact. Each year, we submit proposals for memorials to be included in “Galeria Artystów,” Artists’ Memorial Walkway, in Grunwaldzki Square in Katowice; in recent years, we have repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully, nominated Grzegorz Fitelberg. In October 2018, following the request of the Society of Friends of the NOSPR, Ewa Pawlik-Żmudzińska, an eminent organiser of music life in Silesia, was honoured with the Gloria Artis award. [Mieczysław Juda]

Society of Friends of the NOSPR (pdf)Declaration of Membership (docx)

Bank account for membership fees: PKO BP SA 17 1020 2313 0000 3402 0150 5023 Membership fees can be transferred to the bank account above or paid in cash to Ms. Teresa Rachwał in the seat of the Society, room 361, on Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

IMPORTANT NOTICE! The General Assembly of the Society of Friends of the NOSPR held on 9 June 2025 passed a change to the minimum annual membership fee. Starting with 1 January 2026, the due membership fee is PLN 120.

Members of the Society of Friends of the NOSPR are entitled to a 20% discount on subscriptions provided they have paid the membership fee for the current year. The discount is valid for maximum two NOSPR subscriptions [S1, S2, or S3], irrespective of the ticket zone.

New members are entitled to the discount after two years of membership. Meetings with invited speakers who discuss the programme of subscription concerts – on Thursdays (S1) and on Fridays (S2) – take place on the days of the concerts at 6:30 p.m. in the chamber hall. Board President Vice President Member of the Board Secretary Treasurer