580px, Siam Philharmonic Orchestra members during their 2004 Singapore tour The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 2002 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, under the name "Mifa Sinfonietta". At that time it was a small chamber ensemble devoted to bringing the discipline of the

classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

to Thailand's

classical musicians Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical m ...

. It performed mostly the works of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

and Haydn. In 2003, the orchestra gained its autonomy from MIFA, the music academy where it was born, and was renamed the Bangkok Sinfonietta. However, later, in 2004, it became clear that the orchestra was no longer a sinfonietta since it was now performing large-scale orchestral works by Brahms and Mahler; to reflect this expansion in repertoire, it assumed the name Siam Philharmonic Orchestra. The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra is the resident orchestra of Opera Siam, formerly under the royal patronage of Princess

Galyani Vadhana Galyani Vadhana, Princess of Naradhiwas ( th, กัลยาณิวัฒนา; ; 6 May 1923 – 2 January 2008) was a princess of Thailand and the elder sister of King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) and King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). She w ...

. The current

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

is S.P. Somtow, guest conductors have included Leo Phillips and Linda Cummings. The current resident conductor is

Trisdee na Patalung Trisdee na Patalung ( th, ทฤษฎี ณ พัทลุง; ; born 9 March 1986) is a Thai composer and conductor. He is the Music Director of the Bangkok Baroque Ensemble and the Resident Conductor of the Orpheus Choir of Bangkok. Na Pata ...

. The orchestra regularly performs at the

Thailand Cultural Centre The Thailand Cultural Centre (Thai alphabet, Thai; ศูนย์วัฒนธรรมแห่งประเทศไทย) is a performing arts venue in Huai Khwang district, Bangkok, Thailand. History Built with a grant from Japan, the T ...

. The Siam Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

's '' Four Last Songs'', with soprano Nancy Yuen, appears under the Orchid label. It received second place in the independent JPF Awards in the opera category in 2006. In 2009 it began an initiative to perform the complete Mahler symphonies.

External links

Siam Philharmonic Orchestra official site Siam Philharmonic Orchestra's Mahler on YouTube
{{authority control Thai orchestras Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Thailand