The Munich Symphony Orchestra (Münchner Symphoniker) is a German orchestra based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. The orchestra gives subscription concerts at the

Herkulessaal The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the House of Wittelsbach, Wittelsbach List of rulers of Bavaria, monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors ...

and the

Prinzregententheater The Prinzregententheater, or, as it was called in its first decades, the Prinz-Regenten-Theater, in English the Prince Regent Theatre, is a concert hall and opera house on Prinzregentenplatz in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany. Building ...

and, to a lesser degree, at the Philharmonie am Gasteig, along with other activities statewide in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

History

Kurt Graunke founded the ensemble as the “Graunke Symphony Orchestra” in 1945 and led its first concert on September 25 of that year as a benefit for the Bavarian Red Cross. Regular subscription concerts began four years later. Graunke held the post until 1989. In 1990, the orchestra adopted its current name. Following Graunke, successive chief conductors of the orchestra have been Christoph Stepp (1990−1999),

Heiko Mathias Förster Heiko Mathias Förster (born 1966) is a German conductor. Most notable for conducting the Munich Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2006, since 2014, he has been the chief conductor of the Ostrava-based Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra. Life and ca ...

(1999−2006), Georg Schmöhe (2006−2013), and Kevin John Edusei (2014–2022).

Philippe Entremont Philippe Entremont (born 7 June 1934) is a French classical pianist and conducting, conductor. His recordings as a pianist include concertos by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky, Maurice Ravel, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninoff, Camille Sain ...

held the title of ''Ehrendirigent'', or honorary conductor. Past principal guest conductors have included

Ken-David Masur Ken-David Masur (born 1977) is a German-born American conductor. Biography Born in Leipzig of Japanese and German ancestry, Masur is the son of conductor Kurt Masur and Masur's third wife, the soprano Tomoko Sakurai. He began piano studies at ag ...

. In December 2022, the orchestra announced the appointment of Joseph Bastian as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2023-2024 season. The Münchner Symphoniker has recorded music for more than 500 films, including

George Bruns George Edward Bruns (July 3, 1914 – May 23, 1983) was an American composer of music for film and television. His accolades include four Academy Award nominations and three Grammy Award nominations. He is mainly known for his compositions fo ...

' adaptation of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's ballet score for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

's ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'', ''

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve i ...

'' by Miklos Rozsa,

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...

's score for ''

The Wind and the Lion ''The Wind and the Lion'' is a 1975 American epic historical adventure film written and directed by John Milius, and starring Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith, and John Huston. The film is loosely based on the real-life Perdicaris affa ...

'',

Christopher Young Christopher Young (born April 28, 1958) is an American composer of Film score, film and television scores. Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''Hellraiser'', ''Species (film), Species'', ''Urban Legend (film) ...

's music for '' Hellbound: Hellraiser II'',

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Young was posthumously awarded the ...

's score for '' The Brave One'' and

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' fi ...

's score for '' The Silence of the Lambs''. It also performed the soundtrack to 1990s episodes of the TV series ''

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (sometimes referred to as ''Young Indy'') is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" b ...

''.

Chief conductors

* Kurt Graunke (1945−1989) * Christoph Stepp (1990−1999) *

(1999−2006) * Georg Schmöhe (2006−2013) * Kevin John Edusei (2014–2022) * Joseph Bastian (2023–present)

References

External links

Official website of the Munich Symphony Orchestra

{{Authority control German symphony orchestras Musical groups from Munich Musical groups established in 1945 1945 establishments in Germany