580px, Siam Philharmonic Orchestra members during their 2004 Singapore tour The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 2002 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, under the name "Mifa Sinfonietta". At that time it was a small

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

devoted to bringing the discipline of the

classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

to Thailand's

classical musicians Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" can a ...

. It performed mostly the works of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

. In 2003, the orchestra gained its autonomy from MIFA, the music academy where it was born, and was renamed the Bangkok Sinfonietta. However, later, in 2004, it became clear that the orchestra was no longer a sinfonietta since it was now performing large-scale orchestral works by

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

and

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

; to reflect this expansion in repertoire, it assumed the name Siam Philharmonic Orchestra. The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra is the resident orchestra of Opera Siam, formerly under the royal patronage of Princess

Galyani Vadhana Galyani Vadhana, Princess of Naradhiwas (; ; 6 May 1923 – 2 January 2008) was a princess of Thailand and the elder sister of King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) and King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). She was also a direct granddaughter of King Ch ...

. The current

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

is S.P. Somtow, guest conductors have included Leo Phillips and Linda Cummings. The current resident conductor is Trisdee na Patalung. The orchestra regularly performs at the Thailand Cultural Centre. The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

's '' Four Last Songs'', with soprano Nancy Yuen, appears under the Orchid label. It received second place in the independent JPF Awards in the opera category in 2006. In 2009 it began an initiative to perform the complete Mahler symphonies.

External links

Siam Philharmonic Orchestra official site Siam Philharmonic Orchestra's Mahler on YouTube
{{authority control Thai orchestras Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Thailand