The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra ( no, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, SSO) is a

symphony 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, ce ...

based in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The SSO principal venue is the Stavanger Concert Hall (Stavanger konserthus), performing in the

Fartein Valen Olav Fartein Valen (25 August 1887 – 14 December 1952) was a Norwegian composer, notable for his work in atonal polyphonic music. He developed a polyphony similar to Bach's counterpoint, but based on motivic working and dissonance rather th ...

concert hall.

History

The

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

founded the orchestra in 1938 as the ''Stavanger musikerforenings orkester'', for radio broadcasts. The orchestra's first artistic leader was the violinist Gunnar Knudsen, from 1938 to 1945. In 1965, the orchestra's name was changed to the ''Symfoniorkestret i Stavanger'', and again in 1982 to its present name. Past artistic leaders of the orchestra have included Susanna Mälkki (2002–2005), and more recently the American conductor

Steven Sloane Steven Sloane (born 1958) is an Israeli- American conductor. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Sloane developed an interest in conducting at age 16. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in music. ...

(2007–2013).

Christian Vásquez Christian Vásquez (born 1984, Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. Vásquez began to study violin at age 9, after being accepted to the '' El Sistema'' program in Venezuela, and he played in the ''Sinfónica Infantil de ...

was chief conductor from 2013 to 2019. In addition to its chief conductor, the SSO has appointed conductors with a formal principal responsibility for early music programming, including

Frans Brüggen Franciscus ("Frans") Jozef Brüggen (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) was a Dutch Conducting, conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist. Biography Born in Amsterdam, Brüggen was the last of the nine children of August Brüggen, a textile ...

(1990–1997),

Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from Rena ...

, and since 2006,

Fabio Biondi Fabio Biondi (born 15 March 1961) is an Italian violinist and conductor. He is a specialist in Baroque and early music. Biography Born in Palermo, Sicily, Biondi had a late start, having never even held a violin till age 11, but by the follo ...

. In June 2019, the SSO announced the appointment of

Andris Poga Andris Poga (born 29 June 1980, in Riga) is a Latvian orchestral conductor. Biography Poga is a graduate of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, where he studied trumpet and conducting. He also studied conducting at the University of Mu ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2021–2022 season. Tianyi Lu became the SSO's conductor-in-residence for the 2021-2022 season. The SSO has recorded commercially for such labels as BIS, including music of

Harald Sæverud Harald Sigurd Johan Sæverud (17 April 1897 – 27 March 1992) was a Norwegian composer. He is most known for his music to Henrik Ibsen's ''Peer Gynt'', '' Rondo Amoroso'', and the ''Ballad of Revolt'' ( no, Kjempeviseslåtten). Sæverud ...

Geirr Tveitt Geirr Tveitt (born Nils Tveit; 19 October 1908 – 1 February 1981) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. Tveitt was a central figure of the national movement in Norwegian cultural life during the 1930s. Life Early years Tveitt was born in Be ...

and

Artistic leaders and chief conductors

* Gunnar Knudsen (1938–1945) * Karsten Andersen (1945–1963) * Bjørn Woll (1963–1989) * Aleksandr Dmitriev (1990–1998) *

Ole Kristian Ruud Ole Kristian Ruud (born 2 October 1958) is a Norwegian conductor. Ruud was born in Lillestrøm. He studied clarinet with Richard Kjelstrup at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy and made his debut in Osl ...

(1999–2002) * Susanna Mälkki (2002–2005) *

(2007–2013) *

(2013–2019) *

(2021–present)

Early music programme directors

(1990–1997) *

(2006–2017)

References

External links

Official orchestra site

Store Norske leksikon entry on the orchestra

* ttp://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2009/Apr09/Valen_biscd163242.htm Music Web International review of BIS CD-1632, "Fartein Valen: Orchestral Music, Volume 2", 9 April 2009. {{Authority control Norwegian orchestras Symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1938 1938 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Stavanger