The Danish Chamber Orchestra ( da, Danmarks Underholdningsorkester) is a
chamber orchestra in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
.
It was the Danish National Chamber Orchestra from 1939 to 2014, when it was under the
Danish Broadcasting Corporation
DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...
(DR). Since 2015, it has been funded privately.
The roots of the orchestra date back to 1927, with the formation of an orchestra to perform light music at the Hotel Phoenix by Louis Preil. By 1933, (Louis Preil's Dance Orchestra) consisted of 22 musicians and attained great popularity in Denmark via radio transmissions. In 1939, DR then formally established the ( "Danish Radio Entertainment Orchestra") as the national broadcaster's in-house orchestra. It focused on lighter, popular repertoire. Teddy Petersen took over direction of the ensemble in 1943.
The repertoire of the orchestra included classical repertoire such as Mozart, to modern musicals and more recently, collaborations with rock groups. During the tenure of chief conductor
Ádám Fischer, which began in 1999, the orchestra made a number of commercial recordings of symphonies and operas by Mozart. As of 2014, the orchestra numbered 42 performers.
In September 2014, DR announced the disbanding of the orchestra, effective 1 January 2015, citing budget cutbacks. Protests at the decision resulted, including objections to the haste of the decision by the DR board of directors, and that the
Minister of Culture
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...
,
Marianne Jelved
Marianne Bruus Jelved (née ''Hirsbro'', born 5 September 1943 in Aarhus) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Danish Social Liberal Party. She was elected into parliament in the 1994 Danish general election and had pr ...
, had authorised the dismantling before the orchestra had the opportunity to present a savings plan to allow it to continue. The orchestra gave its final performance as a DR ensemble on 21 November 2014, with a performance of Beethoven's
Symphony No. 9.
The musicians of the orchestra then began a
crowdfunding campaign to keep the orchestra in existence. Via
Kickstarter, this campaign raised 1,000,000 DKK in funds from private individuals, and several Danish corporations pledged the remaining 2,000,000 DKK. Because of Kickstarter's single-donation limits (50,000 DKK), the orchestra was required to cancel its Kickstarter account, to return those donations, and to request that donors re-submit their donations in cash by 28 February 2015.
After ending its affiliation with DR, the orchestra renamed itself the ( "Danish Entertainment Orchestra"), and its English official name dropped the word "national", becoming "Danish Chamber Orchestra".
It gave its first concert as a privately funded ensemble on 1 February 2015 at the
Royal Danish Academy of Music.
References
* Tom Service,
Danish National Chamber Orchestra fights cuts by crowdfunding. ''The Guardian'' (blog entry), 27 January 2015
External links
*
{{Authority control
Danish orchestras
Radio and television orchestras
National orchestras