The Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (German: Nürnberger Symphoniker) is a German orchestra based in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. Its principal concert venue is the Meistersingerhalle. The orchestra's current ''Intendant'' (managing and artistic director) is Lucius A. Hemmer, since September 2003.

History

The orchestra began in 1946 as the

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

State Orchestra (''Fränkisches Landesorchester''), with Erich Kloss as its first chief conductor. In the early 1950s, the orchestra accrued international acclaim for their recordings of the sound tracks to Quo Vadis and Ben Hur by

Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...

. The orchestra took its current name in 1963 for the dedication of the newly built ''Meistersingerhalle''. In 1993, the orchestra won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in the category ''Best Pop Instrumental Performance'' for the soundtrack of ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

''. Since 2008, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra has a new rehearsal and concert hall with a seating capacity of 515, the ''Neuer Musiksaal''. During the summer, it also presents an open-air concert series in the ''Serenadenhof'', the southern courtyard of the

Congress Hall Congress Hall, located in Philadelphia at the intersection of Chestnut and 6th Streets, served as the seat of the United States Congress from December 6, 1790, to May 14, 1800. During Congress Hall's duration as the capitol of the United State ...

. After serving as festival orchestra of the Heidenheim Opera Festival for 25 years, the Nuremberg Symphony took over the same position at Frankonian Summer Festival in 2013. The orchestra has recorded both for the Bavarian radio (

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

) and for commercial CD labels. Every summer, the orchestra participates in Europe's largest open air classical music event, ''Klassik Open Air''. Recent chief conductors of the orchestra have included

Alexander Shelley Alexander Gordon Shelley (born 8 October 1979) is an Echo Music Prize-winning English conductor. He is currently music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, as well as principal associate conductor of the Royal Philharmonic ...

(2009-2017) and Kahchun Wong (2018-2022). In February 2022, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Jonathan Darlington Jonathan Philip Darlington (born 1956 in Lapworth, England) is a British conductor, Music Director Emeritus of the Vancouver Opera and the former Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. He is known for his broad repertoire of both ...

as its chief conductor, effective with the 2022-2023 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.

Chief conductors

* Erich Kloss (1949–1968) * Othmar Mága (1968–1970) * Günter Neidlinger (1971–1974) *

Werner Andreas Albert Werner Andreas Albert (10 January 1935 – 10 November 2019) was a German-born Australian conductor. Personal life Albert was born in Weinheim. He began his studies in musicology and history, and later studied conducting with Herbert von Ka ...

(1974–1980) * Klauspeter Seibel (1980–1988) * Georg Schmöhe (1989–1992) * Thomas Gabrisch (1994–1997) *

Jac van Steen Jac van Steen (born 1956 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch conductor. He studied music theory, as well as orchestral and choral conducting, at the . In the Netherlands, van Steen was conductor and music director of the Nijmegen Bach Choir from 1986 to 1 ...

(1997–2002) * Bernhard Gueller (2005–2009) *

(2009–2017) * Kahchun Wong (2018–2022) *

(2022–present)

References

External links

Official website of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra
{{Authority control German symphony orchestras Music in Nuremberg Musical groups established in 1946 1946 establishments in Germany Albany Records artists