The Symphoniker Hamburg (''Hamburg Symphony Orchestra'') is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

based in

Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Founded in 1957, it is one of the city's three largest orchestras. The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra in residence in the

Laeiszhalle The Laeiszhalle (), formerly Musikhalle Hamburg, is a concert hall in the Neustadt of Hamburg, Germany and home to the Hamburger Symphoniker and the Philharmoniker Hamburg. The hall is named after the German shipowning company F. Laeisz, foun ...

, the Hamburg Music Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the Hamburg Symphony regularly performs as accompanying ensembles for operas and ballets at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

House. The orchestra also offers subscription series of children's concerts, and annual open-air concerts held in the central courtyard of Hamburg's town hall.

History

The Hamburg Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert on 16 October 1957 under the direction of its first chief conductor,

Robert Heger Robert Heger (19 August 1886 – 14 January 1978) was a German conductor and composer from Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. Life and career He studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg under Franz Stockhausen, then in Zurich under Lothar ...

. Heger served in the post until 1961. His successors included Heribert Beissel, who has held the longest tenure as chief conductor to date from 1972–1986,

Carlos Kalmar Carlos Kalmar (born February 26, 1958, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan conductor.Macaluso, p. 194 Biography Kalmar began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl ...

(1987–1991), Miguel Gómez-Martinez (1992–1999), and

Yoav Talmi Yoav Talmi ( he, יואב תלמי; born April 28, 1943, is an Israeli conductor and composer. Biography Yoav Talmi was born in Kibbutz Merhavia He studied composition and orchestral direction first in Israel, at the Rubin Academy of Music ...

(2000–2004). Principal guest conductors have included István Kertész. Andrey Boreyko was principal conductor from 2004 until his sudden resignation in the autumn of 2007.

Jeffrey Tate Sir Jeffrey Philip Tate (28 April 19432 June 2017) was an English conductor of classical music. Tate was born with spina bifida and had an associated spinal curvature. After studying medicine at the University of Cambridge and beginning a me ...

was appointed chief conductor in October 2007 and took up the post in the spring of 2008. In February 2014, the orchestra announced the extension of Tate's contract as chief conductor through 2019. Tate held the Hamburg chief conductorship until his death on 2 June 2017. In February 2018, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Sylvain Cambreling Sylvain Cambreling (born 2 July 1948 in Amiens, France) is a French conductor. Biography Trained as a trombone player, Cambreling studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He joined l' Orchestre Symphonique de Lyon (OSL) as a trombonist in 1971. In 19 ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2018–2019 season. In June 2022, the orchestra announced the extension of Cambreling's contract through the summer of 2028. Recordings with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra have appeared on Dabringshaus und Grimm, edel classics and

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

(Deutscher Schallplattenpreis ECHO Klassik).

Chief conductors

(1957–1961) * Gabor Ötvös (1961–1967) *

Wilfried Boettcher Wilfried is a masculine German given name derived from Germanic roots meaning "will" and "peace" (''Wille'' and ''Frieden'' in German). The English spelling is Wilfrid. Wilfred and Wifred (also Wifredo) are closely related to Wilfried with the sa ...

(1967–1971) *

Heribert Beissel Heribert Beissel (27 March 1933 – 11 June 2021) was a German conductor. While based in Bonn for decades, as conductor at the Bonn Opera and as founder and conductor of the Klassische Philharmonie Bonn, he also held leading positions in Halle ...

(1972–1986) *

(1987–1991) *

Miguel Gómez-Martínez --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disa ...

(1992–1999) *

(2000–2004) *

Andrey Boreyko Andrey Boreyko (russian: Андре́й Ви́кторович Боре́йко, Andrey Viktorovich Boreyko, pl, Andrzej Borejko; born 22 July 1957) is a Polish-Russian conductor. He has Polish ancestry on his father's side and Russian ancestry ...

(2004–2007) * Sir

(2009–2017) *

(2018–present)

References

External links

Official website of the Hamburger Symphoniker
{{Authority control Culture in Hamburg German symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1957 Musical groups from Hamburg Tourist attractions in Hamburg 1957 establishments in West Germany