The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (DRP; German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern) is a German

radio orchestra A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In ...

. Its administrative headquarters is in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

, at the ''Funkhaus Halberg''. The orchestra gives concerts at the ''Funkhaus Halberg'' and the ''Congresshalle'' in Saarbrücken, and at the ''Fruchthalle'' in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

History

The precursor ensemble of the orchestra date back to 1937. In 1951, Emmerich Smola established the ''Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern'' for the ''Südwestfunk'' (Southwest Radio). Separately, by 1952, funding shortages at RIAS led to the downsizing of a full symphony orchestra in the Saarland region to a chamber orchestra. This was the ''Kammerorchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks'', established in 1957. This chamber orchestra gave concerts until 1972. In 1973, this orchestra merged with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken. With the consolidation of two German broadcasting networks, the Südwestfunk and SDR into the newly formed SWR, two separate orchestras from the former parent networks, the ''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken'' of the

Saarländischer Rundfunk (; "Saarland Broadcasting"), shortened to SR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster serving the German States of Germany, state of Saarland. With headquarters in the Halberg Broadcasting House in Saarbrücken, SR i ...

(SR) and the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern of the

Südwestrundfunk (; ), shortened to SWR (), is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany, specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices in three cities: Stuttg ...

were consolidated into a single ensemble, and given the new name of ''Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern'' (DRP) (2007). Christoph Poppen was the first chief conductor of the combined ensemble, serving through 2011. Beginning in 2011,

Karel Mark Chichon Karel Mark Chichon (born 30 April 1971) is a British orchestra conductor. Biography Born in London, Chichon studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna under Leopold Hager. Karel Mark Chichon ...

served as chief conductor. He was scheduled to step down from the post after the 2016–2017 season. In September 2016, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen (born 29 April 1980) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. Biography Inkinen was born in Kouvola, Finland, and began violin and piano studies at the age of 4. As a youth, he also performed in a rock band. He attended the Sibe ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2017–2018 season, with an initial contract of 4 years. In January 2024, the orchestra announced simultaneously the scheduled departure of Inkinen as its chief conductor at the close of the 2024–2025 season, and the appointment of

Josep Pons Josep Pons (born Josep Pons i Viladomat; 1957) is a Spanish conductor. Biography Pons was born in Puig-reig, Berguedà. He received his musical training at L'Escolania de Montserrat and continued his musical studies in Barcelona with such teac ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2025–2026 season.

Chief conductors

* Rudolf Michl (1946–1971; SR) *

Hans Zender Johannes Wolfgang Zender (22 November 1936 – 22 October 2019) was a German conductor and composer. He was the chief conductor of several opera houses, and his compositions, many of them vocal music, have been performed at international festival ...

(1972–1984; SR) *

Myung-Whun Chung Myung-whun Chung (; born 22 January 1953) is a South Korean conductor and pianist. Career Performer Chung studied piano with Maria Curcio and won joint second-prize in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He performed in the Chun ...

(1984–1990; SR) *

Marcello Viotti Marcello Viotti (29 June 195416 February 2005) was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera. Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at th ...

(1991–1995; SR) * Michael Stern (1996–2000; SR) *

Günther Herbig Günther Herbig (born 30 November 1931) is a German conductor. Born in Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, Herbig studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy in Weimar in 1951 (then in East Germany) with Hermann Abendroth. He later was a stude ...

(2001–2006; SR) *

Christoph Poppen Christoph Poppen (born 9 March 1956) is a German conductor, violinist and academic teacher. Career Poppen was born in Münster. As a violinist, he was awarded first prize in the Kocian Violin Competition age 14. He studied the violin with Kur ...

(2006–2011; DRP) *

(2011–2017; DRP) *

(2017–2025; DRP) *

(designate, effective 2025)

Guest Conductors

Stanisław Skrowaczewski Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

(1994–2017) *

Michael Schønwandt Michael Detlev Schønwandt (born 10 September 1953 in Frederiksberg) is a Danish conductor. In Denmark, he studied piano, theory, and composition, and later continued musical studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Biography In 1979, Sc ...

(2025–)

Conductors laureate

* Stanisław Skrowaczewski (2015–2017)

Venues

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken Kaiserslautern Culture of the Palatinate (region) German symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 2007 Oehms Classics artists German radio orchestras Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern Orchestras in Saarland Orchestras in Rhineland-Palatinate