A radio orchestra (or broadcast orchestra ) is an orchestra employed by a radio network (and sometimes television networks ) in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In the heyday of radio such orchestras were numerous, performing classical, popular, light music and jazz. However, in recent decades, broadcast orchestras have become increasingly rare. Those that still exist perform mainly classical and contemporary orchestral music, though broadcast light music orchestras, jazz orchestras and big bands are still employed by some radio stations in Europe.
22-625: The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln ) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne , where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie . The orchestra was founded in 1947 by Allied occupation authorities after World War II, as the orchestra of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; Northwest German Radio), with
44-845: A Big Band in Frankfurt and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berlin. The British Broadcasting Corporation operates five full-time permanent orchestras, as well as a full-time chamber choir, the BBC Singers and the BBC Big Band . Denmark also maintains orchestra in the form of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra , the Danish Radio Big Band , Chamber Orchestra and Radio Choir. In Norway NRK runs
66-476: A ballet corps. The MDR Symphony Orchestra (German: MDR Sinfonieorchester) was founded in 1915 as "Orchester des Konzertvereins" ("Orchestra of the Concert Society"). It became the "Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Leipzig" ("Radio Symphony Orchestra Leipzig") in 1924. Principal conductors have included Herbert Kegel, Wolf-Dieter Hauschild , Daniel Nazareth and Fabio Luisi . Since September 2007, Jun Märkl
88-631: A few months until the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk was founded again. In 1946 the new program "Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Sender Leipzig" started in the Springerstrasse broadcasting house. In September 1952, the "Sender Leipzig" program was converted to the "Berlin III" entertainment program. In 1956 the regional program of Radio DDR (English: Radio GDR ), "Sender Leipzig", was introduced. On 31 May 1991, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR)
110-1000: A year. In the Netherlands, the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep ( Broadcasting Music Centre ), an umbrella organization of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting associations, supports the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest , the Radio Kamer Filharmonie , the Groot Omroepkoor ( Netherlands Radio Choir ), and the Metropole Orkest , the world's largest professional pop and jazz orchestra. The last surviving broadcast orchestra in North America
132-462: Is in Halle . There are also radio and TV studios in each of the three state capitals for the territory that MDR represents: Dresden (Saxony), Erfurt (Thuringia), and Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt). In 2012 87% of MDR's total annual income of €684,529,979 was derived from the licence fees payable by all households at the rate of €17,50 (per month). These fees are not collected directly by MDR but by
154-687: Is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia , Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig , with regional studios in Dresden , Erfurt and Magdeburg . MDR is a member of the ARD consortium of public broadcasters in Germany. MDR broadcasts its own television channel to the three states it serves and also contributes programming to
176-758: Is the orchestra's principal conductor. The later MDR Rundfunkchor (MDR radio choir) was founded in 1946 as the Rundfunkchor Leipzig ("Leipzig Radio Choir"). The MDR managed MDR TV Ballet (German: MDR Fernsehballett), the only TV ballet company in Europe. It was founded in 1962 as DFF-Fernsehballet , reorganized in 1992, and has 30 members. MDR sold the Ballet in 2012. It's now known as Deutsches Fernsehballett . MDR does not own its own transmission towers. They are owned and operated by Deutsche Telekom . Several podcasts produced by MDR are available through
198-878: The Late Show with David Letterman whimsically called itself the CBS Orchestra though it was not a classical musical orchestra and did not perform on CBS outside of the Late Show . The last permanent studio orchestra in America was The Tonight Show Band , also known as the NBC Orchestra, a big band led by trumpeter Doc Severinsen . Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk ( pronounced [ˈmɪtl̩ˌdɔʏtʃɐ ˈʁʊntfʊŋk] ; "Central German Broadcasting"), shortened to MDR ( pronounced [ˌɛmdeːˈʔɛʁ] ; stylized as mdr ),
220-496: The Beitragsservice ("fee collection service") owned jointly by ARD (and its members), the second television network ZDF , and the national radio broadcaster Deutschlandradio . MDR produces programming independently and in collaboration with other broadcasters, for transmission by a number of television and radio networks. MDR also contributes programming to the following: The MDR operates two musical organizations and
242-973: The NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–1954) conducted by Arturo Toscanini , the five orchestras maintained by the BBC , particularly the BBC Symphony Orchestra founded in 1930, the MDR Symphony Orchestra founded in 1923, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra founded in 1949, the Tokyo-based NHK Symphony Orchestra , the Danish National Symphony Orchestra founded in 1925, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra founded in 1969 and
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#1732798424975264-498: The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Norwegian, Kringkastingsorkestret, abbreviated as KORK). The orchestra specializes in classical music as well as popular music. This makes it quite unique in that the musicians are trained both classically and rhythmically to a high degree. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra also have agreements with NRK too make a number of broadcast recordings
286-690: The Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio (formerly the USSR State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra among other names) founded in 1930. Germany has an especially large number of radio orchestras. Eleven radio orchestras perform and produce classical as well as contemporary music and jazz for the North German Broadcasting ( NDR ) with two orchestras in Hamburg and Hanover as well as
308-461: The iTunes Music Store and via RSS. They are essentially repeats of regular radio programmes, including: "Figaro," "MDR Info," "Programming Highlights," "Riverboat," "Sputnik" and "Unter uns." The managing directors of MDR: MDR produces several programs for the ARD, including crime drama episodes for the series Tatort ("Crime Scene") and Polizeiruf 110 ("Police Emergency 110"). MDR also produces
330-920: The NDR Big Band. West German Broadcasting ( WDR ) has two orchestras in Cologne and a Big Band, Southwest German Broadcasting ( SWR ) with one orchestra (2016 merged) and the SWR Big Band in Stuttgart and Baden-Baden/Freiburg, Bavarian Broadcasting ( BR ) with two orchestras in Munich, Central German Broadcasting ( MDR ) with one orchestra in Leipzig, Saarland Broadcasting ( SR ) with one orchestra (2006 merged) in Saarbrücken/Kaiserslautern, Hessian Broadcasting ( HR ) with one orchestra and
352-824: The first German TV channel ( Das Erste ), and broadcasts a number of radio channels. The Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk AG (MIRAG) was founded on 22 January 1924 in Leipzig . It aired its first program on 1 March 1924 at 14:30 CET. During the Gleichschaltung in the Nazi era, the MIRAG was transferred to the "Reichssender Leipzig" in 1934. After the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany temporarily licensed "Radio Leipzig" in 1945, which only existed for
374-417: The name Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester (Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra). The orchestra became particularly known for its performances of 20th-century and contemporary music. It has commissioned and premiered works from such composers as Luciano Berio , Hans Werner Henze , Mauricio Kagel , Krzysztof Penderecki , Karlheinz Stockhausen and Bernd Alois Zimmermann . For the first part of its history,
396-507: The orchestra did not have a principal conductor, but worked with guest conductors. Christoph von Dohnányi was the first conductor to serve as the orchestra's principal conductor, from 1964 to 1969. In the 1990s, the orchestra changed its name to the WDR Sinfonieorchester (WDR Symphony Orchestra). In February 2017, Cristian Măcelaru first guest-conducted the orchestra. He returned for three subsequent guest appearances with
418-421: The orchestra. In May 2019, the orchestra announced the appointment of Măcelaru as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. In June 2020, the orchestra announced an extension of Măcelaru's contract through July 2025. In October 2023, the orchestra announced that Măcelaru is to stand down as its chief conductor at the close of the 2024–2025 season, and to take
440-736: The title of Artistic Partner for the 2025–2026 season. In December 2022, Marie Jacquot first guest-conducted the orchestra. In January 2024, the orchestra announced the appointment of Jacquot as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2026–2027 season, with an initial contract of 4 years. Jacquot is the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln . The orchestra has recorded commercially for such labels as Avie, Hänssler , Kairos, CPO, and Wergo. [REDACTED] Media related to WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln at Wikimedia Commons Radio orchestra Famous broadcast orchestras include
462-468: Was founded as public broadcaster serving Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia , and became a member of ARD . In August 2022 Ines Hoge-Lorenz , the managing director of the regional state branch of Saxony-Anhalt of the MDR was sacked because of her family ties to a corruption scandal ten years ago. MDR has approximately 2,000 employees. The main television studio is in Leipzig , and the main radio studio
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#1732798424975484-828: Was the CBC Radio Orchestra founded in 1938. On March 28, 2008 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced that the orchestra would be dissolved at the end of November. The ensemble has continued independent of network affiliation as the National Broadcast Orchestra based in Vancouver. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Australia operates six state radio symphony orchestras through its subdivision Symphony Australia . The house band for
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