From its very beginning, the orchestra has been composed of the best young Polish musicians playing early instruments. During the first years of its existence the group systematically built its artistic image and has become known as one of the most interesting Polish ensembles specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.
The orchestra has now an international character, and its permanent members include musicians from Poland, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Japan, France, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. Thanks to their consistent and intensive work, and thanks to the artistic exchange with the most prominent European, American and Japanese musicians, the orchestra has developed its own style, characterised by beautiful sound, lively, yet profound expression, and effortless recreation of various musical styles and aesthetic idioms. According to critics and audiences, Arte dei Suonatori is one of the most interesting phenomena on the European early music stage in recent years.
In October 1998, after five years of sporadic activity, the founders of the orchestra, together with Cezary Zych (lawyer, philosopher, and editor-in-chief of Canor magazine), launched a large-scale nationwide concert series called Early Music – Persona Grata. Since 2003, Arte dei Suonatori has also organised four major festivals of early music in Poland: the Handel Festival in Toruń, the Three Baroques Festival in Wrocław, the Music in Paradise Festival in Paradyż and Misteria Paschalia. The orchestra regularly appears in the Warsaw Philharmonic and has worked with soloists and conductors, such as: Hidemi Suzuki, Rachel Brown, Eduardo López Banzo, Davitt Moroney, Alice Piérot, Alberto Rasi, Alexis Kossenko, Dan Laurin, Barthold Kuijken, Ryo Terakado, Reinhard Goebel, Salomé Haller, Robert Hill, Maria Keohane, Allan Rasmussen, Kati Debretzeni, Bolette Roed, Aline Zylberajch, and Rachel Podger.
The albums released by the orchestra have been enthusiastically received by international music critics and have often been praised by the professional press (Diapason d’Or, Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Choc du Monde de la Musique, Luister 10, 10 de Repertoire, Classics Today, Classic CD). Their album containing the La Stravaganza series of violin concertos was recognised as the Baroque Album of the Year for 2003 by the British magazine Gramophone. In 2006, Arte dei Suonatori released two more albums: in April, an album with flute concerts by Carl Philipp and Emanuel Bach recorded for the French label Alpha (recognised by the French music magazine Classica Repertoire as the best performance of Bach’s flute concertos currently available on the market), and in August – The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, transcribed for flute by Dan Laurin, distributed by the Swedish label BIS Records.
The orchestra’s concerts are often transmitted and broadcast by the Polish Radio and radio broadcasting organisations affiliated to the European Broadcasting Union. In 2005, the musicians featured in their first TV shows.
The Arte dei Suonatori has received Young Art Medals and a TVP Kultura Award, and has been nominated for the Pegasus Cultural Award and a Polityka Passport Award (several times). In 2006 the musicians were honoured with the City of Poznań Artistic Award for outstanding artistic achievement and for making Poznań a European centre of early music.
Their repertoire includes over 700 compositions – from Baroque to contemporary orchestral works. One of the latest pieces in the repertoire is Artur Zagajewski’s composition brut commissioned by the Arte dei Suonatori Foundation, which the artists performed with cellist Dominik Połoński at the National Philharmonic during the inaugural concert of the "Warsaw Autumn" International Contemporary Music Festival in 2014.
Throughout 25 years of its history, Arte dei Suonatori has recorded 18 CDs and 15 albums, released by reputable record companies, including BIS Records, Alpha Productions, Channel Classics. The records have been awarded by international music critics with such prizes as the Gramophone Award (The Best Baroque Recording in 2003 for Vivaldi’s Violin Concerti "La Stravaganza"), Diapason d’Or (Muthel’s The Five Keyboard Concertos), Diapason 5 and Choc du Monde de la Musique (many times), Luister 10, 10 de Repertoire, Classics Today, Classic CD, Tokkata-Alte Musik Aktuell: "CD of the Month" (many times), Month’s BBC Music Magazin Choice, Classic FM Magazin, Prelude Classical Music Awards 2009 (The Best Orchestral CD for Handel’s 12 Concerti grossi Op. 6), BBC Music Magazine Editor’s Choice (many times), Telerama ffff. Arte dei Suonatori has also made numerous recordings for radio stations, including the BBC, Danish Radio DR, SWR, Polish Radio 2, and TV recordings for the French station Mezzo, as well as TVP3, TVP Kultura, TVP1.