The orchestra was founded in 1977 as part of the State Music Theater (Państwowego Teatru Muzycznego) by conductor Grzegorz Nowak. In 1980, it evolved into the Chamber Orchestra (Orkiestrę Kameralną). By 1992, the ensemble was functioning as a chamber orchestra within the State Chamber Orchestra (Państwowej Orkiestry Kameralnej) and the Impresario Theater (Teatru Impresaryjnego) in Słupsk. In 2005, it was reestablished as the Polish Philharmonic Sinfonia Baltica (Polską Filharmonię Sinfonia Baltica) in Słupsk, and in 2017, it adopted the full title "the Polish Philharmonic Sinfonia Baltica im. Wojciech Kilar" (Polską Filharmonię Sinfonia Baltica im. Wojciecha Kilara).
Since its inception, the orchestra has been closely linked with the Polish Piano Festival (Festiwalem Pianistyki Polskiej), held annually in Słupsk for the past 50 years, often participating in premieres of works by Polish composers. The ensemble has premiered numerous pieces by composers such as Bogusław Schaeffer, Mikołaj Hertl, Piotr Moss, Norbert Mateusz Kuźnik, and Grzegorz Pieńek, among others.
In recent years, the orchestra has collaborated with composer Krzesimir Dębski, performing several of his works as world premieres. These include the Piano Concerto, Two Stradivarius Concertos, and the symphony Nihil Homine Mirabilius, all of which were recorded on CD, making the ensemble the first and only one in Poland to do so.
The orchestra actively engages in various artistic initiatives, including concert cycles such as Music of the Masters, Known and Unknown Chopin, Music Unites Nations, Ethnic Słupsk, and Violin Summit, which showcases Polish violin soloists. In 1999 and 2000, the Słupsk Orchestra performed Requiem For My Friend by Zbigniew Preisner, marking the second performance of this piece in Poland after Warsaw. Later, in 2005, the Requiem was performed in three concerts in the Netherlands, including one at the renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
On October 1, 2001, the chamber ensemble performed a special concert featuring Greek singer George Dalaras at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt during the International Book Fair (Buchmesse). Recently, the orchestra inaugurated the 3rd International Amber Baltic Music Festival in Międzyzdroje, accompanying pianists Kevin Kenner and Dina Yoffe.
To date, the Polish Philharmonic Sinfonia Baltica im. Wojciech Kilar has released thirty CDs. Notable recordings include The Beatles Symphony Orchestra, which features symphonic interpretations of Lennon and McCartney's songs arranged by Bohdan Jarmołowicz and the track Can’t Buy Me Love with Vadim Brodski. This album, released by the American label Centaur Records, earned the orchestra a Grammy nomination in 1998. Four years later, the Philharmonic recorded works by contemporary American composers in flute and orchestra arrangements, with Katherine DeJongh as the soloist for Centaur Records. For DUX, the orchestra collaborated with pianist Edward Wolanin to produce a CD featuring new symphonic arrangements of Chopin’s pieces, along with works by George Gershwin and Astor Piazzolla, featuring soloists Tomasz Tomaszewski on violin and Wiesław Prządka on bandoneón. Additionally, the orchestra recorded songs with André Ochodlo, a vocalist and director of the “Atelier” theatre in Sopot, presenting lyrics by Itzig Manger in Yiddish, a pioneering album of its kind devoted to Jewish music.
In 2003, the orchestra performed Wojciech Kilar’s Missa Pro Pace in Gdańsk, with the composer present, and participated in the Violin Summit concert featuring Polish violinists such as Katarzyna Duda, Krzesimir Dębski, Konstanty Andrzej Kulka, and Michał Urbaniak. This concert received the prestigious Pomeranian Art Award Gryf 2003 for "Artistic events."
The musicians from Słupsk toured with French accordionist Richard Galliano in 2004, visiting cities including Gdańsk, Poznań, and Kraków, which resulted in the album Tango Forever. In early 2005, the orchestra provided accompaniment for the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre during performances of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in Germany.
In May 2005, Sinfonia Baltica participated in the Summer Festival in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, and a month later at the “Fermata” Piano Festival in Lublewo, performing alongside pianist Cyprien Katsaris. The 2005/2006 season marked the beginning of Sinfonia’s collaboration with the Kroke ensemble from Kraków, resulting in performances during Music Connects Nations and A Symphonic Kroke in Gdańsk and Bydgoszcz.
In 2007, the orchestra released another CD featuring tangos titled Tango alla polacca, based on compositions by Władysław Szpilman. At the beginning of 2008, a DVD of Mozart's Requiem in D minor was released, recorded in late 2004 with soloists, the Słupsk orchestra, and the Polish Chamber Choir Schola Cantorum Gedanensis, conducted by Jarmołowicz during a night-time event in Gdańsk, commemorating the anniversary of the composer’s death.
The orchestra's latest recordings feature collaborations with jazz musicians. One album includes original arrangements of works by Fryderyk Chopin, recorded in 2010 by pianist Filip Wojciechowski and American trumpeter Gary Guthman. Another, titled Poetic Jazz Symphonic, was recorded in 2015 with the German Lech Wieleba double bass quartet, featuring compositions by Bohdan Jarmołowicz and American Jerry Gates, who also conducted the orchestra.
Bohdan Jarmołowicz served as the director of the institution from 1992 until 2017. Since January 1, 2018, conductor Ruben Silva has taken on the role of director of the Philharmonic.
