ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

A world-renowned, leading orchestra, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is a vital part of the Viennese orchestral tradition and is known for its exceptional and bold programming. Marin Alsop has been principal conductor since September 2019.

Each year, the Vienna RSO gives two series of subscription concerts, at the Musikverein and at the Konzerthaus, while also appearing at major festivals at home and abroad. The Orchestra has close ties with the Salzburg Festival, musikprotokoll at steirischer herbst and the Wien Modern Festival. Regular tours take the players to Japan, China, Thailand and Taiwan, as well as to the USA, Latin America and Germany, where they have performed at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and at the Philharmonies in Berlin, Cologne and Essen. In 2022 the orchestra made its debut at the BBC Proms, and in 2023 it made its debut at the Philharmonie de Paris. Since 2007 the Vienna RSO has appeared regularly at the Theater an der Wien, establishing an excellent reputation as an opera orchestra.

Most of the Orchestra’s performances are broadcast on the radio, both by Ö1 and internationally. The Vienna RSO is also at home in the world of film music, and most recently recorded the soundtrack to Moonbound and the film score for Die Theorie von Allem (The Universal Theory).

The Vienna RSO emerged from Austrian Radio’s main orchestra in 1969. Under the leadership of its principal conductors, Milan Horvat, Leif Segerstam, Lothar Zagrosek, Pinchas Steinberg, Dennis Russell Davies, Bertrand de Billy and Cornelius Meister, the Orchestra has continued to expand its repertory and gain a growing international reputation. Guest conductors with the Vienna RSO have included Alain Altinoglu, Leonard Bernstein, Elim Chan, Christoph von Dohnányi, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Jakub Hrůša, Susanna Mälkki, Joana Mallwitz, Ingo Metzmacher, Marc Minkowski, Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko, Lorenzo Viotti and Simone Young. Composers who have conducted the Orchestra include Thomas Adès, Luciano Berio, Friedrich Cerha, Peter Eötvös, HK Gruber, Hans Werner Henze, Ernst Krenek, Bruno Maderna and Krzysztof Penderecki, while the internationally acclaimed soloists who have appeared with the Orchestra include Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Christian Gerhaher, Hilary Hahn, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gidon Kremer, Lang Lang, Igor Levit, Sabine Meyer, Gabriela Montero, Fazıl Say and Daniil Trifonov.

The Orchestra’s recording activities include numerous world premiere recordings of early 20th-century Austrian music, as well as contemporary Austrian pieces. In 2019 the Orchestra’s live recording of Gottfried von Einem’s Der Prozess from the 2018 Salzburg Festival was awarded the Diapason d’Or and the German Record Critics’ Award. The Vienna RSO has also won the OPUS Klassik five times, including most recently for a recording of Prokofiev’s two violin concertos with Tianwa Yang.

The Orchestra runs a broad educational programme, with workshops for children and young people. Since 1997 talented musicians have been annually admitted into the Orchestra’s academy. The Vienna RSO plays regularly at the final concerts of the conducting class at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.