The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra () is a Dutch symphony orchestra. The home of the orchestra is the Muziekcentrum in

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

. The orchestra was previously known in Dutch as Orkest van het Oosten (literal translation "Orchestra of the East"), but in October 2011 changed its Dutch name to align with the English name. At the same time the Dutch abbreviation "OvhO" was replaced with "NedSym." Due to objections from the Amsterdam-based

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra The Netherlands Philharmonic () is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Amsterdam. History The Netherlands Philharmonic was formed as the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985 from the merger of three orchestras: the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orc ...

, the Enschede orchestra had to change its name again and from 2014 till 2019 was known as HET Symfonieorkest ("THE Symphony orchestra"). Internationally it keeps employing the name "Netherlands Symphony Orchestra". As of September 2019, after fusion with the orchestra of Gelderland the name of the orchestra is "Phion, Orkest van Gelderland & Overijssel" (Phion, orchestra of Gelderland & Overijssel). Netherlands Symphony Orchestra performs about 75 concerts a year in Enschede,

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

and

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, as well as throughout the province of

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

and the

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or Circular arc, arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Net ...

. NedSym also serves as orchestra with the Dutch Touring Opera (Nederlandse Reisopera) for two productions a year and various provincial choirs.

History

The precursor ensemble to the Orkest van het Oosten was the ''Twents Kamerorkest'' (Twents Chamber Orchestra), an amateur ensemble which began performing in the 1930s under the direction of Klaas de Rook. In 1947, this orchestra changed its name to the ''Twents Philharmonisch Orkest'' (Twents Philharmonic Orchestra). In 1954, the orchestra became fully professional under the name of the ''Overijssels Philharmonisch Orkest'' (Overijssels Philharmonic Orchestra), incorporating musicians from the Twents Harpsichord Ensemble and the Twents Chamber Orchestra. In 1983, the Overijssels Philharmonic Orchestra was merged with Opera Forum. The two orchestras were joined together as the Forum Philharmonic operating in two formations: one for accompanying the opera the other for symphonic concerts, and a few times a year both together for large scale productions. In 1994, the orchestra was seriously reduced and formed an independent ensemble under the name Orkest van het Oosten. At the same time, in 1994, the Nationale Reisopera (which in 2014 changed its name to Nederlandse Reisopera) was organised from Opera Forum, without an orchestra. The Orkest van het Oosten was contracted to accompany two Reisopera productions a year.

Conductors

Jaap van Zweden Jaap van Zweden (; born 12 December 1960) is a Dutch conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Seoul Philharmonic and music director-designate of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Biography Van Zweden was bo ...

was chief conductor of the OvhO from 1996 to 2005. Since the 2006-2007 season, Jan Willem de Vriend has been chief conductor of the OvhO, with an initial contract of 3 years. Although there have been reports of controversy over his direction of the OvhO, his contract with the OvhO has been extended to 2012. In 2010 the "Orkest van het Oosten" was awarded with an Edison award. In January 2016, the orchestra announced that de Vriend is to conclude his tenure as chief conductor at the end of the 2016-2017 season.

Chief conductors

(1996–2005) * Jan Willem de Vriend (2006–2017) *

Ed Spanjaard Eduard Philip Spanjaard (born 22 December 1948), known professionally as Ed Spanjaard, is a Dutch conductor and pianist. Early life Spanjaard was born in 1948 in Haarlem. His father was a psychiatrist and amateur pianist, and his mother a fla ...

(2017–present)Ed Spanjaard nieuwe dirigent Orkest van het Oosten
Tubantia, 12 juli 2016.

References

External links

Official website of the Nederlands Symfonieorkest

Raad voor Cultuur (Culture Council), Dutch-language official economic document on the Orkest van het Oosten
{{authority control Dutch symphony orchestras Musical groups established in the 1930s 1930s establishments in the Netherlands Enschede Musical groups from Overijssel