Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern

German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
Radio orchestra
Native nameDeutsche Radio Philharmonie
Short nameDRP
Founded1937 (1937)
LocationSaarbrücken
Concert hall
Funkhaus Halberg
Principal conductor
Josep Pons
Websitewww.drp-orchester.de/drp/index.html

The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (DRP; German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern) is a German radio orchestra. Its administrative headquarters is in Saarbrücken, at the Funkhaus Halberg. The orchestra gives concerts at the Funkhaus Halberg and the Congresshalle in Saarbrücken, and at the Fruchthalle in Kaiserslautern.

History

The precursor ensemble of the orchestra dates back to 1937. In 1946, under the French military administration, the Kaiserslautern Radio Orchestra (Funkorchester Kaiserslautern) was founded. Emmerich Smola became its principal conductor in 1948. Following its merger with the Koblenz Light Orchestra (Unterhaltungsorchester Koblenz) in 1951 as part of a reorganization of the broadcaster, the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern for the Südwestfunk (Southwest Radio) was established under Smola’s direction. It operated alongside the broadcaster’s symphony orchestra and was known for sophisticated popular music and light classical repertoire.

Separately, by 1952, funding shortages at RIAS led to the downsizing of a full symphony orchestra in the Saarland region to a chamber orchestra. This was the Kammerorchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks, established in 1957. This chamber orchestra gave concerts until 1972. From 1968 to 1972, it was led by cellist Antonio Janigro, who had previously founded the Zagreb Soloists.

In 1973, the chamber orchestra merged with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken. With the consolidation of two German broadcasting networks, the Südwestfunk and SDR into the newly formed SWR, two separate orchestras from the former parent networks, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken of the Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) and the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern of the Südwestrundfunk were consolidated into a single ensemble, and given the new name of Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern (DRP) (2007). Christoph Poppen was the first chief conductor of the combined ensemble, serving through 2011.

Christoph Poppen served as principal conductor from 2007 until his contract expired in the summer of 2011. He was succeeded in the 2011/12 season by Gibraltar-born conductor Karel Mark Chichon[1], who stepped down in May 2017. Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen took over as principal conductor at the start of the 2017/18 season, with an initial contract of 4 years.[2] In January 2024, the orchestra announced simultaneously the scheduled departure of Inkinen as its chief conductor at the close of the 2024–2025 season,[3] and the appointment of Josep Pons as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2025–2026 season.[4][5][6]

Chief conductors

Principal guest conductors

Conductors laureate

  • Stanisław Skrowaczewski (2015–2017)[7]

Venues

References

  1. ↑ "Karel Mark Chichon gibt bekannt, seinen Vertrag nach sechs Jahren als Chefdirigent der Deutschen Radio Philharmonie nicht zu verlängern" (Press release). SWR. 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Der Finne Pietari Inkinen wird neuer Chefdirigent der Deutschen Radio Philharmonie ab der Saison 2017/18" (Press release). SWR. 16 September 2016. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. ↑ "Pietari Inkinen verlässt die Deutsche Radio Philharmonie nach der Spielzeit 2024/25" (Press release). Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "Josep Pons wird neuer Chefdirigent der Deutschen Radio Philharmonie ab der Spielzeit 2025/26" (Press release). Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. 25 January 2024. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  5. ↑ "Deutsche Radio Philharmonie stellt Programm für neue Saison vor". swr.online (in German). 10 May 2024. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  6. 1 2 Kessler, Tobias (23 May 2025). "Neues Programm und neuer Chef bei der Deutschen Radiophilharmonie: "Er denkt anders als viele andere Dirigenten" – Was hat Josep Pons mit der DRP vor?". Saarbrücker Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Skrowaczewski wird Ehrendirigent der Deutschen Radio Philharmonie". MUSIK HEUTE (in German). 30 October 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2025.

Further reading

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