The Reuss Chamber Orchestra (german: Reußisches Kammerorchester) is a German

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

(

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

), which sees itself as integral part of the . The aim of the Reuss Chamber Orchestra is to enrich the concert life of Gera,

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

and the region Eastern Thuringia, and to promote the cultural strength of the region nationwide.

History

The concert life of the city of Gera is based on the tradition of the orchestra of the

House of Reuss Reuss (german: Reuß , ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Imperial Principalities in ...

, which can be traced back to the year 1696.

Concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

Herbert Voigt of the Philharmonic Orchestra founded the „Kammerorchester der Bühnen der Stadt Gera“ in the 1960/61 orchestra season. In 1987 it was awarded the title "Philharmonic Orchestra". In 2000 it was merged with the traditional Landeskapelle Altenburg.Webseite Abg-net.de
In 2011, the Reuss Chamber Orchestra celebrates its 50th anniversary.Klein, fein und flexibel - Das Reußische Kammerorchester feiert Geburtstag
''

Thüringer Allgemeine ''Thüringer Allgemeine'' (TA) is a German newspaper with its head office in Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in ...

'' 2011-01-29
Honoring the merits of the

, Gera, the orchestra was renamed to "Reuss Chamber Orchestra" in 1989.

Management

CEO: Solo oboist Guenter Gaebler CFO: Violinists Egbert Funda Art Director: NN

Concerts

Concert tours have taken the Reuss Chamber Orchestra to various German federal states and a variety of European countries. Highlights include concerts with the

Thomanerchor Leipzig The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding sch ...

and the

Dresdner Kreuzchor The Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys' choir of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden, Germany. It has a seven-century history and a world-wide reputation. Today, the choir has about 150 members between the ages of 9 and 19, from Dresden and the surroundin ...

. The soloists

Gerhard Bosse Gerhard Bosse (23 January 1922 – 1 February 2012) was a German violinist and conductor. Life Bosse was born in Wurzen in 1922 as son of the military musician Oskar Bosse (1893-1979) and grew up in Greiz. He received his first violin lessons f ...

Karl Suske Karl Johann Suske (born 15 March 1934) is a German violinist. In the course of his more than forty-year career as a musician, Suske has been first concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra as well as the Bayreuth ...

Ludwig Güttler Ludwig Güttler (born 13 June 1943) is an internationally known German virtuoso on the Baroque trumpet, the piccolo trumpet and the corno da caccia. As a conductor, he founded several ensembles including the chamber orchestra Virtuosi Saxoniae. H ...

Burkhard Glaetzner Burkhard Glaetzner (born 29 May 1943) is a German oboe virtuoso und conductor. He is one of the leading oboe players in Germany. Life Glaetzner was born in Poznań. His grandfather was the Goethe researcher , who last taught in Leipzig. In ...

Michael Sanderling Michael Sanderling (born 21 February 1967) is a German conductor and violoncellist. Biography Born in East Berlin, Michael Sanderling is the son of the contrabassist Barbara Wagner and the conductor Kurt Sanderling. He received his first cel ...

, Michael Schoenheit and Andreas Hartmann worked and played music with the Reuss Chamber Orchestra. A CD has been recorded with Georg Fritzsch as conductor and Felix Friedrich as a soloist. The record presents an unknown organ concert by

Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...

to the public. Other DVD productions are available. Outstanding in the history of the Reuss Chamber Orchestra is the musical accompaniment of the first two services of the consecration of the rebuilt

Dresden Frauenkirche The Dresden Frauenkirche (german: Dresdner Frauenkirche, , ''Church of Our Lady'') is a Lutheran church in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. Destroyed during the Allied firebombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II, ...

. Ever since, there has been intensive cooperation with the Frauenkirche cantor Matthias Gruenert, which has led to various joint concerts, going beyond the cities

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. In 2008, 2010 and 2011Website Rundfunk.evangelisch.de
/ref> the Reuss Chamber Orchestra accompanied the New Year's church service in the

Dresdner Frauenkirche The Dresden Frauenkirche (german: Dresdner Frauenkirche, , ''Church of Our Lady'') is a Lutheran church in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. Destroyed during the Allied firebombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II, ...

broadcast by national TV station

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. The 2011 New Year's service can be viewed in the ZDF Media library
.

References

External links

Reuss Chamber Orchestra – German Homepage
(currently under construction)
Theater&Philharmonie Thüringen – German Homepage

ZDF Media Library website – 2011 New Year's service
{{Authority control German orchestras Chamber orchestras Music in Thuringia Musical groups established in 1961 Tourist attractions in Thuringia 1961 establishments in East Germany East German musical groups