Welcome to the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic

Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic

 The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic is a flexible orchestral entity with a penchant for new perspectives. Sixty musicians are at the base of the orchestra, which strength can be varied and expanded to perform Baroque, contemporary music, the traditional chamber orchestral repertoire, as well as scores calling for larger forces. The orchestra enjoys a rich and varied repertoire and continues its traditions of modern music performance and Dutch as well as world premieres.

As one of the flagship orchestras for the Netherlands Public Broadcasting, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic occupies a prominent place in the Saturday Matinee and the Sunday Morning Concerts series at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Friday Vredenburg series in Utrecht and the adventurous concerts series in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam. These concerts are broadcast live on the Dutch national station, Radio 4, and disseminated through the international European Broadcasting Union connection.

Highlights from recent seasons include the Dutch premiere of In seven days written and directed by Thomas Adès at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, the world premiere of Epitaaf by Maarten van Norden directed by Otto Tausk, and works by Britten, Sjostakovitsj and MacMillan under the direction of James MacMillan at the Matinee series. In the more traditional realm, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic has given acclaimed performances of Haydn’s Nelson Mass with the Netherlands Radio Choir under the direction of Frans Brüggen and Händel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato under the direction of Kenneth Montgomery. The Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic traditionally closes its season with a mini-series focused on classical masterpieces during the Concertgebouw Amsterdam’s Mozart Festival/Mozart Marathon in early July.
Education and innovation play an important role in the orchestra’s unique musical profile. The orchestra is a welcome guest at the inventive educational series Music Factory and participates at the International Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, a festival renowned for its commitment to popularizing new influences and young composers.
A plethora of CD recordings ranging from premieres by leading composers such as Tristan Keuris and former Principal Guest Conductor Peter Eötvös have won the Radio Chamber Philharmonic a devoted following and important international prizes.
The second release of QuattroLive, the new CD label of classical station Radio 4, in conjunction with NPS, AVRO, TROS, the Netherlands Broadcasting Music Center and Radio Netherlands Worldwide, illustrates the versatility of the Radio Chamber Philharmonic. The CD contains recordings of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, directed by Frans Brüggen, and Tristan Keuris’ Symphony in D under the baton of Jaap van Zweden. A complete catalogue of recordings of the Radio Chamber Philharmonic is shown here.

Jaap van Zweden assumed the positions of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic in 2005. He will stay on in this position until the 2010/11 season. As off that season the Danish conductor Michael Schønwandt will take over as Chief Conductor. Principal guest conductor is Philippe Herreweghe. Frans Brüggen, Chief Conductor of the former Radio Chamber Orchestra, has been named Conductor Emeritus of the Radio Chamber Philharmonic in 2007. As off the 2010/11 season James MacMillan will commence as Principal guest conductor.

Watch a short documentary about the orchestra below.


Short interviews with several musicians about their orchestra