The Gävle Symphony Orchestra () 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: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The orchestra is resident at the ''Gävle Konserthus'' (Gävle Concert Hall).

History

Founded in 1912, giving its first concert on 16 January that year, the orchestra initially gave its concerts in the Gävle theatre and Mariners' Church. In 1998, a purpose-built concert hall was constructed overlooking the Gavleån. Beginning on 1 July 2012, Jaime Martín became the orchestra's artistic adviser, and on 1 July 2013, he took the post of principal conductor. His initial contract was for 4 years. In September 2015, the orchestra extended his contract through 2020. Martín had been scheduled to conclude his tenure as principal conductor of the orchestra at the close of the 2020-2021 season. However, in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the orchestra and Martín extended the scheduled date of the conclusion of his tenure by one year, into 2022. Martín stood down as principal conductor at the close of the 2021-2022 season. In December 2021, Christian Reif first guest-conducted the orchestra. In April 2023, the orchestra announced the appointment of Reif as its chief conductor, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with an initial contract of three seasons. Among its discography are recordings of Tre Dalmålningar by Oskar Lindberg, Xaver Scharwenka's Symphony in C minor, symphonic poems by Franz Berwald; orchestral works by Gustaf Bengtsson, Oscar Byström's Symphony in D minor, Jacob Adolf Hägg's ''Nordic Symphony''; orchestral music by Armas Järnefelt, Otto Olsson's Symphony in G minor, Kurt Atterberg's violin and piano concertos; a concert live from the

Amsterdam Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the ...

with works by

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

, Svendsen and

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

with Carlos Spierer, Rosa Arnold, Enrica Ciccarelli, and the piano concerto of Sven-David Sandström.

Principal conductors

* Ruben Liljefors (1912–1931) * Ludvig Mowinckel (1931–1934) * Sten Frykberg (1934–1939) * Sixten Eckerberg (1936) * Eric Bengtson (1939–1948) * Stig Westerberg (1949–1953) * Siegfried Naumann (1953–1954) * Gunnar Staern (1954–1963) * Carl Rune Larsson (1963–1967) * Rainer Miedel (1968–1975) * Göran W Nilson (1981–1984) * Doron Salomon (1984–1990) * Hannu Koivula (1991–1996) * Carlos Spierer (1997–2000) * Petri Sakari (2000–2006) * Robin Ticciati (2006–2009) * Jaime Martín (2013–2022) * Christian Reif (2023–present)

References

External links

Official website of the Gävle Symfoniorkester
''This article contains some material adapted from the equivalent in Swedish'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gavle Symphony Orchestra Musical groups established in 1912 Swedish symphony orchestras 1912 establishments in Sweden Musical groups from Gävleborg County Culture in Gävle 20th-century establishments in Gävleborg County