The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra performs concert series at the orchestra’s resident locations in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern. It regularly gives concerts in nearby France and Luxembourg as well as in Brussels, Mainz, Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Over the past few years, the orchestra has toured Switzerland, China, and Japan. In 2016, it will visit South Korea for the third time and will be a guest at the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw in 2017.
The Principal Conductor of the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra is Briton Karel Mark Chichon. He succeeded Christoph Poppen who had held the position of Principal Conductor since the creation of the orchestra in 2007. Stanislaw Skrowaczewski is closely connected with the orchestra as the Principal Guest Conductor. In 2015, the 92-year-old was appointed Conductor Emeritus.
Be it with live concerts in concert halls, as part of the Saarländischer Rundfunk (Saarland Broadcasting) or the Südwestrundfunk (Southwest Broadcasting) cultural programmes or on the ARTE television channel, the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra aims to make the extensive repertoire of a radio orchestra available to classical music lovers in outstanding quality and to create intensive musical experiences. Thanks to podcasts and streaming, it is increasingly possible for the orchestra to reach its audience in the digital world.
Several CDs from the orchestra’s extensive discography have received international awards: Piano concertos by Edvard Grieg and Moritz Moszkowski with pianist Joseph Moog were nominated in the “Best Classical Instrumental Solo” category at the 2016 Grammy awards. The CD “Meditation” with mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and Principal Conductor Karel Mark Chichon won the 2015 “ECHO Klassik” music award, and the recording “French Trombone Concertos” with soloist Fabrice Millischer won the 2014 “ECHO Klassik” music award. CD series have been recorded of symphonies by composers Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Louis Théodore Gouvy. Under the direction of Principal Conductor Karel Mark Chichon, the orchestra is currently working on a complete recording of Antonín Dvorák’s symphonic works.
The German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra was created in 2007 following the merger of the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra (SR) and the Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern (SWR). Core works from the classical-romantic period, regular premieres of contemporary music, commissioned works and historically informed interpretations of pre-classical works that are prepared with specialists comprise the keynotes of the orchestra’s work. Thanks to the “Saarbrücken Composers’ Workshop”, the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra provides young composers with an opportunity to present their first orchestral works.
Pre-concert talks, concerts with commentary or open rehearsals are also a way of promoting music as is “Classical music comes to school”, a range of children’s concerts, family concerts and workshops aimed at young audiences or the ARD 2016 School Symphony Orchestra “Vivaldi Experiment”.