The Warsaw Chamber Opera was founded in 1961 by Stefan Sutkowski, who has served as its Managing and Artistic Director ever since. The company’s inaugural production was G.B.Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (4 September 1961).  Since October 15th 1986 the Warsaw Chamber Opera has performed in its own Theatre at Solidarnosci Avenue 76 B. It is an ancient building from 1775 having a small lovely audience with excellent acoustic. This building is entered in the register of historical monuments of Warsaw.  At present, the Warsaw Chamber Opera company consists of 2 directors, 2 designers, 7 conductors, over 75 soloists, and 2 small-size symphony orchestras (the Warsaw Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of Warsaw Chamber Opera). It also has the period-instruments ensemble Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense, a Mime Group and the 40-strong Chamber Choir. The Warsaw Chamber Opera is pursuing a diverse activity. Its repertoire spans a wide variety of musical styles and genres: from medieval mystery plays to the operas of the Baroque and Classical periods, 18th century pantomimes, the operas by Rossini and Donizetti, as well as works by contemporary composers, several of which were commissioned by the company. The Warsaw Chamber Opera ensembles also give regular concerts featuring chamber, oratorio and symphonic music of various epochs. In 1984 the Warsaw Chamber Opera established the Research and Documentation Centre of Early Polish Music. It deals with the research, publication, performance and recording of newly-discovered works by Polish composers.  The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has long occupied a prominent place in the company’s repertoire. A series of successful productions encouraged the decision to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death with the 1st Mozart Festival (15 June – 26 July 1991). Its programme included all of Mozart’s stage works (26 productions). The Mozart Festival has been organised on an annual basis since then. Every edition of the event (15 June – 26 July) comprises Mozart complete stage output and a selection of his chamber, symphonic, and vocal-instrumental works. The Warsaw Chamber Opera is the only company in the world to have Mozart’s entire operatic output in its permanent repertoire. Small wonder that this unprecedented achievement won the Warsaw’s company wide international recognition.  Another major artistic project realised by Stefan Sutkowski and the Warsaw Chamber Opera is the Baroque Opera Festival, held annually since 1993. The event enriched the company’s repertoire with works by J.Peri, C.Monteverdi, H.Purcell, J.Blow, F.Caccini and J.B.Lully. Special attention was paid to Monteverdi’s output, eventually giving rise to, in the autumn of 1995, to the Claudio Monteverdi Festival, another annual fixture in the Warsaw Chamber Opera calendar. Within its framework, the company has produced all of Monteverdi’s extant stage works, including three full-length operas L’Orfeo, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and L’incoronazione di Poppea.  The largest project of the WCO were the celebrations of 400 years of opera as a genre, held between 6 October 2000 and 30 October 2001. 57 stage works from different epochs (including 7 premieres) – ranging from Euridice by Jacopo Peri, the first opera for which complete music survives, through contemporary operas commissioned by the WCO – were presented on this “festival of festivals”. In the framework of this event, the WCO gave 125 performances in its Theatre in Warsaw. In September 2001 the Warsaw Chamber Opera commemorated its 40th anniversary. The celebrations were a climax of the company’s most ambitious artistic project to date – the 400 Years of Opera Festival which offered insights into the entire history of opera. From 3 May 2004 to 3 May 2005, the Warsaw Chamber Opera organised An Ode to Europe, a programme of festivals, operatic productions and concerts presenting music from the 25 countries of the European Union. In 2006 the Warsaw Chamber Opera celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performing all the year long in Poland and on its foreign tours works by this composer only.  The Pro Musica Camerata Foundation is another noteworthy initiative of the Warsaw Chamber Opera. Founded in 1992, it publishes critical editions of Polish music manuscripts from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. This is of much benefit for both musicologists and performers. The Foundation also produces CDs of the masterpieces of early Polish music (particularly the newly-discovered pieces), performed by the Warsaw Chamber Opera ensembles.  Since 1972 the Warsaw Chamber Opera has been promoting its attainments through foreign tours. It has performed in 16 European countries, as well as Lebanon, Japan, the United States and Canada, including numerous prestigious international festivals.