The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gave its first concert on 7 October 1945, led by its founder and ‘first conductor‘ Albert van Raalte, on Radio “Herrijzend Nederland”. Initially the orchestra spent most of its time in studios working on a large number of recordings for the public broadcasting system. The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic featured prominently in the Saturday Matinee as soon as the series started in 1961, and has continued to give frequent live performances ever since. The celebrated Saturday Matinee has hosted many legendary concerts. Illustrious soloists such as Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Clara Haskil and Jean-Pierre Rampal have shared the stage with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2004, the three classical orchestral formations of the broadcasting 15 system were transformed into two: the present Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic. In 2006, these two orchestras, the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Metropole Orchestra joined the Dutch public broadcasting organisation NPO.
The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has been conducted by great names such as Bernard Haitink, Jean Fournet, Hans Vonk, Sergiu Comissiona and Edo de Waart. Jaap van Zweden was named its chief conductor in September 2005. The orchestra has also worked with numerous famed guest conductors such as Leopold Stokowski, Kirill Kondrashin, Antál Dorati, Riccardo Muti, Kurt Masur and Valery Gergiev. Soon after its founding, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic found itself foremost in Dutch musical life in the number of performances and the diversity of its repertoire, with a predilection for Dutch and contemporary works in its programming. It has honed another facet of its striking profile with a great many opera concertante performances. The orchestra has an extensive discography, ranging from legendary LPs recorded in the 1970s under such conductors as Leopold Stokowski and Antal Doráti to Jean Fournet’s much-lauded renderings of French repertoire. Under Edo de Waart, not only did it release its legendary Wagner interpretations, but also the complete orchestral works of Rachmaninov. CDs with work by contemporary composers such as Jonathan Harvey, Klas Torstensson, Jan van Vlijmen and Stravinsky have garnered prizes and much acclaim.

The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic is a versatile orchestra that covers a broad and varied terrain. The orchestra performs in various formations, from Baroque to contemporary music ensemble. Michael Schønwandt is its chief conductor and artistic director. Its principal guest conductors are Philippe Herreweghe, Frans Brüggen and James MacMillan. Former chief conductor Jaap van Zweden was appointed conductor emeritus in May 2011. Radical cutback in expenditure of the Netherlands public broadcasting results in the dissolution of this orchestra in August 2013. The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic makes an important contribution to the Saturday Matinee, Sunday Morning and Robeco Summer concert series in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Utrecht’s Vredenburg Friday series and the NTR concerts in Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ. All of these concerts are broadcast via Radio 4 and many are recorded for live Internet streaming and TV broadcasts. The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic is a frequent guest in De Magische Muziekfabriek educational series, the International Gaudeamus Music Week and the Holland Festival.
The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic is renowned for its impassioned performances of contemporary music. At the internationally respected Donaueschingen Festival for new music, the orchestra performed no less than four world premieres in a single concert conducted by Peter Eötvös in October 2010. One month later its concertante performance of Pascal Dusapin’s Faustus, the last night, the first in the Netherlands, received rave reviews.
The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic is also known for its performances of familiar and lesser known works of the old masters conducted by specialists in historical performance practice. In recent years the Radio Chamber Philharmonic worked with conductors like Harry Christophers, Andrew Manze, Masaaki Suzuki, Kenneth Montgomery and John Nelson and of course principal guest conductors Frans Brüggen and Philippe Herreweghe. The versatility of the orchestra is demonstrated in its wide range of recordings, from Beethoven, Haydn and Stravinsky to Henk Badings, Tristan Keuris, Otto Ketting, Richard Rijnvos and James MacMillan.

Hailed for the natural ease of his conducting and the compelling insight of his musicianship, James Gaffigan continues to attract international attention and is one of the most outstanding American conductors working today. James Gaffigan is currently the Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also appointed the first Principal Guest Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne in September 2013, a position that was created for him.
In addition to these titled positions, James Gaffigan is in high demand working with leading orchestras and opera houses throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. In recent seasons, James Gaffigan’s guest engagements have included the Munich, London, Dresden, Oslo, Czech and Rotterdam Philharmonics, Vienna Symphoniker, Dresden Staatskapelle, Deutsches Symphony Orchestra (Berlin), Konzerthaus Berlin, RSO Berlin, Orchestre de Paris, Zurich Tonhalle, London, BBC, Gothenburg, Bournemouth and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Leipzig and Stuttgart Radio Orchestras, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony and Sydney Symphony. In the States, he has worked with the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, San Francisco and Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and National Symphony Orchestras and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra among others.
As an opera conductor, James Gaffigan made his Vienna State Opera debut in 2011/12 with La Bohéme and was immediately invited back to conduct Don Giovanniduring 12/13. Mr Gaffigan continues his relationship with both the Vienna State Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival – in 2012, he conducted a production of La Cenerentola at Glyndebourne and returned for performances of Falstaff during the summer of 2013. In 2014/15 season he conducted the Hamburg Opera with performances of Salome and the Norwegian Opera with a new production of La Traviata. He made his opera debut at the Zurich Opera in 2005 conducting La Bohéme.
Highlights of the 2015/16 season include debuts with the New York Philharmonic and Don Giovanni at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich. Mr. Gaffigan will also return to the Munich and Los Angeles Philharmonics, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, and the Vienna Staatsoper to conduct the Marriage of Figaro.
Born in New York City in 1979, Mr. Gaffigan has degrees from both the New England Conservatory of Music and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston. He also studied at the American Academy of Conducting at the Aspen Music Festival, and was a conducting fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.
In 2009, Mr. Gaffigan completed a three-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony in a position specially created for him. Prior to that appointment, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra where he worked under Music Director Franz Welser-Möst from 2003 through 2006. James was also named a first prize winner at the 2004 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition. He lives in Lucerne with his wife Lee and their two children Sofia and Liam.

Michael Schønwandt, born in Copenhagen, was Music Director of the Royal Orchestra and the Royal Opera in Copenhagen from 2000-2011, and associated with the company since 1979. In September 2010 he took up the position of Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has also held posts as Chief Conductor of the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester (1992-1998), Principal Guest Conductor of La Monnaie in Brussels (1984-87), Principal Guest Conductor of the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (1987-2000), and Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra, and is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Staatstheater Stuttgart.
As well as his close association with the Royal Opera in Copenhagen (where projects have included a new Ring Cycle in the newly opened opera house in 2006) Michael Schønwandt has conducted at leading opera houses around the world, including regular appearances with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Monnaie in Brussels, Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, Nice Opera, the Stuttgart Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Cologne Opera and Die Meistersinger in Bayreuth. His vast operatic repertoire has included Alceste, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Idomeneo, Fidelio, Der Fliegende Holländer, Parsifal, Tannhäuser, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Lohengrin, Tristan & Isolde, Macbeth, Simone Boccanegra, Otello, Wozzeck, Falstaff, Eugen Onegin, Queen of Spades, Turandot, The Trojans, Salome, Elektra, Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Jenufa, The Cunning Little Vixen, Katya Kabanova, Le Grand Macabre and Maskarade by Nielsen.
Michael Schønwandt has a very active concert career and has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra (including all the Beethoven piano concertos with Alfred Brendel), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, the Dresden Philharmonic, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Essen Philharmonic, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Orchestre National de Lyon, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Helsinki Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Warsaw, the Royal Flanders Philharmonic, the Orchestre Symphonique de la Monnaie in Brussels and engagements in Bonn, Zurich, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Graz, and Rome.
Michael Schønwandt has a special interest in Danish music. He is regarded as one of the leading exponents of Carl Nielsen’s music and has recorded all his symphonies and concertos. He has also recorded the complete symphonies by Niels Gade and Weyse and his interest in contemporary music has led him to conduct many world premieres by Danish composers.
Michael Schønwandt has made many notable recordings with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra for Chandos, including Strauss’ Salome, released in 1999, and hailed by the Gramophone magazine as the best recording ever of the work.
In May 2011 Michael Schønwandt was awarded Commander in the Royal Danish Order of the Dannebrog for his particular contribution to the arts.

Markus Stenz is Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2012) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from the 2015/2016 onwards.
His previous positions have included most recently General Music Director of the City of Cologne and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and Principal Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra (posts he relinquished in the summer of 2014). Markus Stenz was Artistic Director of the Montepulciano Festival (1989 – 1995), Principal Conductor of the London Sinfonietta (1994 – 1998) – one of the most renowned ensembles for contemporary music and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1998 – 2004). Trained at the School of Music in Cologne under Volker Wangenheim and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, Markus Stenz has held the positions of Artistic Director of the Montepulciano Festival (1989 – 1995), Principal Conductor of the London Sinfonietta (1994 – 1998) – one of the most renowned ensembles for contemporary music. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1998 – 2004) Markus Stenz broadened his repertoire and established his career as an international conductor.
He made his debut as an opera conductor at La Fenice in Venice and has since conducted many world premieres and first performances including Henze’s Das Verratene Meer in Berlin, Venus und Adonis at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and L’Upupa at the 2003 Salzburg Festival. Markus Stenz has appeared at many of the world’s major opera houses and international festivals including La Scala in Milan, La Monnaie in Brussels, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, the Bregenz Festival (with the world premiere of Solaris by Detlev Glanert in July 2012) and Salzburg Festival.
His notable opera performances in Cologne have included Wagner’s Ring, Lohengrin,Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Parsifal as well as Janacek’s Jenufa and Katya Kabanova. Markus Stenz conducts many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Berlin Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Vienna Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and the Symphony Orchestras of the Bayerische Rundfunk, the HR, the WDR and the NDR. In the United States these have included the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
His comprehensive discography includes many award-winning productions. His recording of the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler with the Gürzenich Orchestra (Oehms Classics), for instance, was given an enthusiasic international reception, and was selected among the "Quarterly Critic's Choice" issued by the German Record Critics' Award Association with the recording of Mahler's 5th. The discography was recently enlarged by the addition of recordings of the world premiere of James MacMillan’s St. Luke Passion and the Dutch première of K. A. Hartmnann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus (Challenge Classics) with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest as well as various Schönberg-recordings with the Gürzenich-Orchestra Cologne.
The 2015/2016 season leads Markus Stenz all over the world, from São Paulo to Shanghai. He will again conduct premières and world premières, among others the German premiere of a Cello Concerto by Pascal Dusapin with the cellist Alisa Weilerstein and an orchestra work by Dieter Ammann with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich in June 2016.
Markus Stenz has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal North

Over the years, Christoph Poppen has held a number of significant Directorships in Germany. From 1995 to 2006, he was Artistic Director of the Münchener Kammerorchester. In August 2006, he was appointed Music Director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Saarbrücken, and from 2007 until 2011 he was the Music Director of the newly formed Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern: thus, following the fusion of those two orchestras, he ensured that they grew to form a homogeneous artistic unit. In the 2022/23 season, Christoph Poppen continues his highly successful collaborations with the Kölner Kammerorchester in his role as Principal Conductor and as Principal Guest Conductor of both Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Israel Chamber Orchestra, respectively. He has been invited to perform as Guest Conductor with distinguished orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Detroit and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Camerata Salzburg.
Christoph Poppen has been Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, and later at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he was President from 1996 through 2000. From 2001 to 2005, Christoph Poppen was Artistic Director of the renowned ARD International Music Competition.
Since 2003, he has held a post as professor for Violin and Chamber Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. In 2019, he founded the International Academy for Music, Arts and Science in the Portuguese town of Marvão, where he had previously founded the Festival Internacional de Música, now a highly successful and award-winning annual musical event. Between 2020 and 2022 he was also Artistic Director of the Classic Revolution Festival in Seoul. Starting with the 2021/22 academic year, he has been appointed Chair Professor of Violin at the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid. The year 2022 marked the third occasion upon which he conducted the Kölner Kammerorchester at the Ruhr Piano Festival.