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

Enschede Enschede (; known as in the local Twents dialect) is a municipality and city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region. The eastern parts of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau ...

. 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 Orchestra (NedPhO; nl, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest) is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Amsterdam. History The NedPhO was formed in 1985 from the merger of three orchestras: the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestr ...

, 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: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

and

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

, as well as throughout the province of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...

and the

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many tow ...

. NedSym also serves as orchestra with the

Dutch Touring Opera The Nederlandse Reisopera (formerly Nationale Reisopera) is a Dutch opera company based in Enschede, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the company performs an annual season of fully staged operas. The organization regularly tours their productions, and ...

(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 Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and of the New York Philharmonic, and music director-designate of the Seoul Philharmonic. ...

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 fl ...

(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