The Munich Chamber Orchestra (, or MKO) is a German

chamber orchestra 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 ...

based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Its primary concert venue is the

Prinzregententheater The Prinzregententheater, or, as it was called in its first decades, the Prinz-Regenten-Theater, in English the Prince Regent Theatre, is a concert hall and opera house on Prinzregentenplatz in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany. Building ...

, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at such venues as the

Pinakothek der Moderne The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's '' Kunstareal''. The building Designed by German architect Stephan Braunfels, the Pinakothek der Moderne was inaugurated in Se ...

and the ', and at the ' during the

Munich Biennale The Munich Biennale () is a contemporary opera and music theatre festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is ''Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater'', literally: International Festival for New Music Theater. The biennial f ...

History

Christoph Stepp founded the MKO in 1950.

Hans Stadlmair Hans Stadlmair (3 May 1929 – 13 February 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He conducted the Münchener Kammerorchester for almost four decades. He conducted more than 6000 concerts, many in collaboration with the Bayerischer Rundfunk ...

was the artistic director from 1956 to 1995, and conducted the orchestra in over 4000 concerts, including international tours and collaborations with the

Bayerischer Rundfunk (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...

. From 1995 to 2006,

Christoph Poppen Christoph Poppen (born 9 March 1956) is a German conductor, violinist and academic teacher. Career Poppen was born in Münster. As a violinist, he was awarded first prize in the Kocian Violin Competition age 14. He studied the violin with Kur ...

was principal conductor of the MKO. has been the principal conductor and artistic director from 2006 until 2016. Clemens Schuldt has been principal conductor since the 2016/17 season. The MKO has regularly commissioned music from such contemporary composers as

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (; born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition wi ...

Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas (born 16 August 1953) is an Austrian composer. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, pieces by Haas received the most votes (49), and his composition ''in vain'' (2000) topped the li ...

Thomas Larcher Thomas Larcher (born 16 September 1963, in Innsbruck) is an Austrian composer and pianist. Biography and Work Thomas Larcher completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna under Heinz Medjimorec and Elisabeth Leonsk ...

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee ...

and

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

, among others. In 1971 the orchestra premiered

Wilhelm Killmayer Wilhelm Killmayer (21 August 1927 – 20 August 2017) was a German composer of classical music, a conductor and an academic teacher of composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München from 1973 to 1992. He composed symphonies and so ...

's ''fin al punto'', composed for its 20th anniversary. The MKO and the Philharmonie Essen commissioned

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 ...

's ''ad absurdum'', Concerto for trumpet in B and small orchestra, which premiered on 18 January 2006 with soloist Sergei Nakariakov. In 2010 the orchestra premiered Peter Ruzicka's ''TRANS''.

Awards

The MKO was awarded the

Musikpreis der Landeshauptstadt München The Musikpreis der Landeshauptstadt München (Music Prize of the City of Munich) is an award, awarded since 1992, initially every two years but since 2000, every three years, alternating with the Theaterpreis and the Tanzpreis. The music prize re ...

in 2000, the prize for the best concert programming from the Deutscher Musikverleger-Verband (German association of music publishers) for the seasons 2001/02 and 2005/06, the

Cannes Classical Award The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

in 2002, the Prize of the Christoph and Stephan Kaske Foundation in 2002 with Christoph Poppen, the Ernst von Siemens Förderpreis in 2001 to 2003. In 2008, the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste awarded the prize ''Neues Hören'' (New Listening) of the foundation ''Neue Musik im Dialog'' (New Music Dialogue) for the successful delivery of contemporary music to the chamber orchestra.

Selected recordings

Karl Amadeus Hartmann Karl Amadeus Hartmann (2 August 1905 – 5 December 1963) was a German composer. A major figure of the musical life of post-war Germany, he has been described as the greatest German symphonist of the 20th century. Life Born in Munich, the son ...

: ''Funèbre'', with Isabelle Faust (violin), Paul Meyer, Petersen String Quartet, conducted by

ECM New Series ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's ar ...

(2000) *

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Modernism (music), modernist Holy minimalism, sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous Chamber music, chamber, Orchestra, orch ...

: ''Sieben Worte'' / ''Zehn Präludien'' / ''De Profundis'', with Elsbeth Moser (

bayan Bayan may refer to: Educational institutions * Bayan Islamic Graduate School, Chicago, IL Places *Bayan-Aul, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan *Bayan Mountain, an ancient mountain name for part of Tarbagatai Mountains at Kazakhstan in Qing Dynasty period *B ...

), Boris Pergamentschikow (cello), conducted by Christoph Poppen ECM New Series (2002) *

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...

: ''Ricercar'', including

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...

Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4 (also spelled ; "Christ lay in death's bonds" or "Christ lay in the snares of death"), 4, is a cantata for Easter by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, one of his earliest church cantatas. It is agreed to be an early work partly for styli ...

'', with the

Hilliard Ensemble Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music. The group was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard. Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014. Although ...

, conducted by Christoph Poppen, ECM New Series (2003) * Tigran Mansurian: ''Monodia'', with

Kim Kashkashian Kim Kashkashian (born August 31, 1952) is an American violist. She has spent her career in the U.S. and Europe and collaborated with many major contemporary composers. In 2013 she won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. She i ...

Leonidas Kavakos Leonidas Kavakos (; born 30 October 1967) is a Greek violinist and conductor. He has won several international violin competition prizes, including the Sibelius, Paganini, Naumburg, and Indianapolis competitions. He is an Onassis Foundation sc ...

Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Gar ...

, conducted by Christoph Poppen, ECM New Series (2004) *

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London, England) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of or ...

: ''Folio'', with Maya Homburger (baroque violin), Muriel Cantoreggi (violin), Barry Guy (double bass), conducted by Christoph Poppen, ECM New Series (2005) *

Giacinto Scelsi Giacinto Francesco Maria Scelsi (; 8 January 1905 – 9 August 1988, sometimes cited as 8 August 1988) was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French. He is best known for having composed music based around only one pitch, ...

: ''Natura Renovatur'', with Frances-Marie Uitti, conducted by Christoph Poppen, ECM New Series (2006) * Valentyn Sylvestrov: ''Bagatellen und Serenaden'', with Valentyn Sylvestrov and Alexei Lubimov (piano), conducted by Christoph Poppen, ECM New Series (2007) *

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 ...

/ Yun: ''Farewell'' conducted by Alexander Liebreich ECM New Series (2008) * ''Neharót'', works of Betty Olivero, Tigran Mansurian,

Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas (; 22 October 1935), was an Ottoman-Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national school of musi ...

and Eitan Steinberg, with Kim Kashkashian, conducted by Alexander Liebreich ECM New Series (2009) * ''Madhares'', works of

for piano and orchestra with

Till Fellner Till Fellner (born 9 March 1972) is an Austrian pianist. Biography Till Fellner was born in Vienna and studied at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien with Helene Sedo-Stadler, and subsequently with Alfred Brendel, Meira Farkas, Oleg Maisenberg ...

, for viola and chamber orchestra with Kim Kashkashian, conducted by

Dennis Russell Davies Dennis Russell Davies (born April 16, 1944, in Toledo, Ohio) is an American conductor and pianist. He is chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic and of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Biography Davies studied piano and conducting at ...

ECM New Series (2010) *

Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio '' Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima' ...

: ''Landscape'', with

Mayumi Miyata is a Japanese player of the '' shō'', a traditional Japanese mouth organ. Miyata was born on April 1, 1954, in Tokyo and graduated from the Kunitachi College of Music, where she majored in piano. While in school, she began studying ''gagaku'' ...

( shō), conducted by Alexander Liebreich ECM New Series (2011) * Fauré: ''

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

'', with Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by

Peter Dijkstra Peter Dijkstra (born 11 June 1978) is a Dutch conductor, especially of choirs and vocal ensembles. Born in Roden, Drenthe, Dijkstra sang in his youth in Jongenskoor Roder, a boys' choir, which his father, Bouwe Dijkstra, founded in 1985. He sang ...

Sony Classical (2011), rewarded with ECHO KLASSIK 2012 *

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

: Ouvertures, conducted by Alexander Liebreich Sony Classical (2011) * ''Der Charme der Oboe'', works of Cimarosa, Bellini etc., with

François Leleux François Leleux (born July 1971 in Croix, Nord) is a French oboist, conductor, and professor. His professional career began at 18 when he became principal oboe at the Paris Opera. He went on to win a solo position at the Bavarian Radio Symphony Or ...

(oboe), Daniel Giglberger (concertmaster) Sony Classical (2012) * Nikolaus Brass: ''Zeit im Grund / Von wachsender Gegenwart'', with Beate Zelinsky, David Smeyers (clarinet), conducted by Alexander Liebreich NEOS (2013) * W. A. Mozart: '' Great Mass in C minor, K. 427'', with Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by

Sony Classical (2013) * W. A. Mozart: ''

'', with Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Alexander Liebreich Sony Classical (2014) * W. A. Mozart: Flötenkonzerte, with Magali Mosnier (flute), Daniel Giglberger (concertmaster) Sony Classical (2015) *

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

: '' Sommernachtstraum / Symphony No. 4'', with Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Alexander Liebreich Sony Classical (2015) *

/ Hummel: Prince Esterházy Concertos, with

(oboe), Daniel Giglberger (concertmaster) Sony Classical (2015) * Cello Concertos by

/ W. A. Mozart/ Cassadó, C.P.E. Bach, with Valentin Radutiu (cello), conducted by Stephan Frucht hänssler classic (2016) * '' Anton &

Paul Wranitzky Paul Wranitzky (Czech: Pavel Vranický; 30 December 1756 – 29 September 1808) was a Moravian-Austrian classical composer. His half brother, Antonín, was also a composer. Life Wranitzky was born in Neureisch ( Nová Říše) in Habsburg Mora ...

'' with Veriko Tchumburidze (violin), Chiara Enderle (cello), conducted by Howard Griffiths Sony Classical 2016 * Tigran Mansurian: Requiem, with

RIAS Kammerchor The RIAS Kammerchor (RIAS Chamber Choir) is a German choir based in Berlin, Germany. It receives support from the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin ("Berlin Radio Orchestra and Choirs"), a limited-liability company owned by the public br ...

, Alexander Liebreich ECM New Series (2017) *

Franz Danzi Franz Ignaz Danzi (15 June 1763 – 13 April 1826) was a German cellist, composer and conductor, the son of the Italian cellist Innocenz Danzi (1730–1798) and brother of the noted singer Franzeska Danzi. Danzi lived at a significant time i ...

, with Nareh Arghamanyan (piano), Aurélien Pascal (cello), conducted by Howard Griffiths Sony Classical / BR-Klassik 2017 * Milica Djordjević: ''rocks – stars – metals – light'', i.a. conducted by Clemens Schuldt, col legno / BR-Klassik (2017) * ''Concertante!'' Les Vents Français, Daniel Giglberger (concertmaster) Warner Classics / BR-Klassik (2018)

Principal conductors

(1956–1995) *

(1995–2006) * (2006–2016) * Clemens Schuldt (2016–2022)"Clemens Schuldt to become new principal conductor of the Münchener Kammerorchester as of 2016–17 season"
Münchener Kammerorchester

Associated conductors

(2022–present) * Enrico Onofri (2022–present) * (2022–present)

References

External links

*
Clemens Schuldt
official website *

bach-cantatas.com
Münchener Kammerorchester unter Christoph Poppen mit dem Preis für das Beste Konzertprogramm der Saison ausgezeichnet
Deutscher Musikverleger-Verband, 22 May 2006 {{Authority control, state=collapsed Chamber orchestras Orchestras in Munich String orchestras ECM Records artists 1950 establishments in West Germany Musical groups established in 1950