The ensemble was founded on 1 October 2002 and is the heir and continuator of the long-standing activity of the student symphony orchestra, whose managers and conductors were Karol Stryja, Napoleon Siess and Jan Wincenty Hawel. The ensemble works on a session basis, giving no less than five concerts a year. Eminent Polish and foreign conductors such as Klaus Arp, Gabriel Chmura, Nicolas Cleobury, Jacek Kaspszyk, Michał Klauza, Lutz Köhler, Alexander Liebreich, Larry Livingston, Krzysztof Penderecki, Arturo Tamayo, Antoni Wit, Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Takuo Yuasa and Andreas Weiss have collaborated with the orchestra. Working and giving concerts under their direction, as well as under the baton of native conductors Jan Wincenty Hawel, Mirosław Jacek Błaszczyk and Szymon Bywalec, the young musicians gained valuable experience. Highlights of the orchestra’s calendar include the concert at the National Philharmonic (2007) and participation in the ‘Warsaw Autumn’ Festival (2007), where the Academic Symphony Orchestra performed Yannis Xenakis’ “Nommos Gamma” for the first time in Poland. The orchestra’s repertoire includes such items as: Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” and “Petrushka”, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade”, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, Karol Szymanowski’s Symphony No. 3, Claude Debussy’s “La Mer”, Maurice Ravel’s “La Valse”, Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Gustav Mahler’s Symphonies No. 4 and 5, Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Witold Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra. In addition to symphonic works, the orchestra can also boast experience in the operatic repertoire. Two projects have been realised in cooperation with the Silesian Opera and students and teachers of the friendly Louisville Academy of Music: “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A significant part of the concerts were recorded in albums documenting the activities of the ensemble in 2002-2007. The artistic and concert activities of the Academic Symphony Orchestra are a showpiece of the university and an important addition to the musical life of the city of Katowice and the region.