The RAI National Symphony Orchestra ( it, italic=no, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI) is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piazza Rossaro in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. Its concerts are broadcast on

Rai Radio 3 Rai Radio 3 (''radio tre'') is an Italian radio channel operated by the state-owned public-broadcasting organization RAI and specializing in culture and classical music. It is currently directed by Andrea Montanari. Founded on 1 October 1950 a ...

. The current artistic director is Ernesto Schiavi. The orchestra was formed in 1994 by the merger of four former RAI orchestras of Turin,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

, which had been founded starting in 1931.

History

In 1931, the EIAR, Italy's newly formed public radio authority, founded its first symphony orchestra in

. Subsequent radio orchestras were established in

(1936),

(1950) and

(1948, integrated to the RAI in 1956). In 1994, the RAI merged its four orchestras (RAI Symphony Orchestra of Turin, RAI Symphony Orchestra of Rome, RAI Symphony Orchestra of Milan, and RAI Alessandro Scarlatti Chamber Orchestra of Naples) to form the national orchestra, based in Turin. The new ensemble's opening concerts were led by Georges Prêtre and

Giuseppe Sinopoli Giuseppe Sinopoli (; 2 November 1946 – 21 April 2001) was an Italian conductor and composer. Biography Sinopoli was born in Venice, Italy, and later studied at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice under Ernesto Rubin de Cervin ...

. From 1996 to 2001,

Eliahu Inbal Eliahu Inbal (born 16 February 1936, Jerusalem) is an Israeli conductor. Inbal studied violin at the Israeli Academy of Music and took composition lessons with Paul Ben-Haim. Upon hearing him there, Leonard Bernstein endorsed a scholarship for ...

held the title of ''Direttore onorario'' (honorary conductor) of the orchestra. Jeffrey Tate was principal guest conductor of the orchestra from 1998 to 2002, and had the title of ''Direttore onorario'' until July 2011. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos was principal conductor of the orchestra from 2001 to 2007.

Gianandrea Noseda Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964, Sesto San Giovanni, Italy) is an Italian conductor. Biography Noseda studied piano and composition in Milan. He began conducting studies at age 27. He furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzet ...

was principal guest conductor from 2003 to 2006. From 2009 to 2016,

Juraj Valčuha Juraj Valčuha (born 1976, Bratislava) is a Slovak conductor who has worked mainly in Italy and France. He is the designated conductor of the Houston Symphony Orchestra from the 2022/23 season. Life Born in Bratislava, Valčuha studied composi ...

was principal conductor of the orchestra. James Conlon first guest-conducted the orchestra in 2009. In June 2015, the orchestra announced the appointment of Conlon as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2016–2017 season. In May 2021, the orchestra announced the appointments of

Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Bio ...

as its conductor emeritus and of

Robert Treviño Robert Treviño (born 1984) is a Mexican-American conductor. He is currently music director of the Basque National Orchestra in Spain, principal guest conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, and artistic advisor of the Malmö S ...

as its next principal guest conductor. Treviño's contract is for 3 years.

Principal conductors

* Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos (2001–2007) *

(2009–2016) * James Conlon (2016–2020)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Italian orchestras Musical groups established in 1994 Music in Turin Organisations based in Turin Rai (broadcaster) Radio and television orchestras