The orchestra has been operating continuously since 1945 and has participated in many Polish and international music festivals since its inception. It is a regular participant in such festivals as Warsaw Autumn, Wratislavia Cantans, and Music in Old Cracow. Internationally, it has appeared at festivals in La Chaise-Dieu, Sion-Valais, Prague, Ruse, Lucca, Halle, Kiel, Ostrava, Vienna, Linz, Berlin, Lisbon, Mariánské Lázně, Brno, Varna, Athens, Taipei, and Barcelona.
The orchestra has given world premieres of more than eighty works by such composers as H. M. Górecki, K. Penderecki, W. Kilar, T. Baird, A. Dobrowolski, A. Glinkowski, J. W. Hawel, E. Knapik, A. Lasoń, A. Nowak, and J. Świder.
The ensemble has given more than two hundred concerts abroad, performing throughout Europe as well as in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
The orchestra has made more than forty recordings for Polish and international record labels. Particularly noteworthy is its recording of the complete symphonic, vocal-orchestral, and cantata-oratorio works by K. Szymanowski, a landmark achievement in discography.