Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1945, plays a vital role in Dutch musical life. Besides major symphonic repertoire, it performs – more than any other Dutch symphony orchestra – the music of today, often including premieres of works specially commissioned for the NTR Saturday Matinee and AVROTROS Friday Concerts broadcasting series. Innovative programme concepts such as Pieces of Tomorrow and Out of the Blue reach out to a conspicuously young audience. Almost all concerts are broadcast live on NPO Radio 4, naturally implying that the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra performs for a live audience dozens of times larger than any concert hall could ever accommodate.

The American conductor Karina Canellakis started her position as chief conductor of the orchestra in September 2019, being the first female chief conductor of a Dutch symphony orchestra. Her fellow American James Gaffigan, principal guest conductor since 2011, has prolonged his engagement until 2023.

Markus Stenz was chief conductor of the orchestra from 2012 to 2019. His illustrious predecessors include Bernard Haitink, Edo de Waart (honorary conductor), Jaap van Zweden (honorary chief conductor), Jean Fournet and Hans Vonk. Guest conductors have included Leopold Stokowski, Kirill Kondrashin, Antal Doráti, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Michael Tilson Thomas, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Peter Eötvös, John Adams, Christoph Eschenbach, Vasily Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski and Pablo Heras-Casado.

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded an Edison Classical Award in 2014 for its contribution to the musical life of the Netherlands, and in 2017 it was awarded the Concertgebouw Prize (with the Netherlands Radio Choir).

Askonas Holt are delighted to be touring the orchestra to Vienna in May 2024.