The Polish State Philharmonic was formed in the Silesian city of Katowice in 1945, one of the first orchestras to be established in the post-war period. Since then it has assumed an important position, giving concerts in Katowice and the principal cities of this heavily industrialised region of Poland. The orchestra has visited England, Austria, West Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy and the Soviet Union and has taken part in a number of major music festivals. Conductors who have appeared with the orchestra include Kyril Kondrashin, Hermann Abendroth, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Carlo Zecchi, and soloists of the eminence of Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Artur Rubinstein, Maurizio Pollini, Henryk Szeryng and David Oistrakh.