The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

, affiliated with the

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...

(NDR) in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, the capital of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''

Landesfunkhaus Niedersachsen The State Radio House of Lower Saxony () is a group of buildings owned by the public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The broadcaster is based in Hamburg, but has facilities in the capi ...

''.

History

A historical precursor orchestra was the ''Niedersächsisches Sinfonie-Orchester'', a radio orchestra that was affiliated with the ''Nordische Rundfunk Aktiengesellschaft'' since the late 1920s. Following World War II, with the founding of the

Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Federal States of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September ...

(NWDR), the current orchestra was founded in 1950 originally as the ''Rundfunkorchester Hannover''. Willy Steiner was the first chief conductor, beginning in 1950, and held the post until 1975. During his tenure, the orchestra later changed its name to the ''Radiophilharmonie Hannover''. In 2003, the orchestra took its current name of the ''NDR Radiophilharmonie''. After Steiner, chief conductors have been

Bernhard Klee Bernhard Klee (born 19 April 1936) is a German conductor, originally from Schleiz, in Thuringia. He studied piano with Else Schmitz-Gohr. Trained as a member of the Thomanerchor, he has since conducted many of Europe's most prestigious orchestras ...

Eiji Ōue is a Japanese conductor. Biography Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he met Leonard Bernst ...

and Eivind Gullberg Jensen. Since 2009, Ōue has held the title of conductor laureate (''Ehrendirigent'') with the orchestra. Since 2014, the orchestra's current chief conductor has been

Andrew Manze Andrew Manze (born 14 January 1965) is a British conductor and violinist, noted for his interpretation of Baroque violin music. Biography Born in Beckenham in Kent, England, Manze read Classics at Clare College, Cambridge. He studied violin ...

. In March 2017, the orchestra announced the extension of Manze's contract through to 2021. In February 2019, the orchestra announced a further extension of Manze's contract to 2023. Manze concluded his tenure as chief conductor of the orchestra at the close of the 2022–2023 season. In June 2022, first guest-conducted the orchestra. In July 2023, the orchestra announced the appointment of Kochanovsky as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2024–2025 season, with an initial contract of three seasons. The orchestra has recorded commercially for such labels as CPO and Pentatone.

Chief conductors

* Willy Steiner (1950–1975) *

(1976–1979) *

Zdeněk Mácal Zdeněk Mácal (; 8 January 1936 – 25 October 2023) was a Czech conductor who worked internationally. The promising conductor who had won international competitions left his home country of Czechoslovakia in 1968 when the Warsaw Pact ended the ...

(1980–1983) *

Aldo Ceccato Aldo Ceccato (born 18 February 1934) is an Italian conductor. Biography Ceccato was born in Milan. He worked as assistant to Sergiu Celibidache and was music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1973 until 1977. From 1976 until 198 ...

(1985–1989) * Bernhard Klee (1991–1995) *

(1998–2009) *

Eivind Gullberg Jensen Eivind Gullberg Jensen (born 1 April 1972) is a Norwegian conductor. Biography Jensen studied violin and conducting in Trondheim. He continued his conducting studies with Jorma Panula in Stockholm and in Vianna with Leopold Hager. Jensen has ...

(2009–2014) *

(2014–2023) * (2024–present)

Guest conductors

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (; born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of ...

(2023–2026)

Venue

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Norddeutscher Rundfunk German symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1950 German radio orchestras Orchestras in Hanover