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.
26-781: 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 . The precursor ensemble of
52-845: 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
78-719: 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
104-813: A lifelong association with the choir in 1964. Woodgate died in 1961. That same year, Peter Gellhorn took over the choir. He re-organised the professional contingent, scrapping the A–B division in favour of a single force of 28 voices, which was renamed the BBC Chorus. Following the appointment of John Poole as chorus master in 1972, the choir reverted to its previous name, the BBC Singers. The choir continued to broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, but its long-established participation in The Daily Service had been curtailed to one appearance per week by
130-1000: 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
156-568: Is a regular guest at the BBC Proms . Broadcasts are made from locations around the country: London venues have included St Giles-without-Cripplegate , St John's, Smith Square and St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge . The BBC Singers perform with leading international orchestras and conductors. The choir has appeared by invitation at national events such as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in Westminster Abbey. Former members of
182-732: 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 . BBC Singers The BBC Singers is a professional British chamber choir , employed by
208-657: The BBC . Its origins can be traced to 1924. One of the six BBC Performing Groups , the BBC Singers are based at the BBC Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time professional British choir, the BBC Singers feature in live concerts, radio transmissions, recordings and education workshops. The choir often performs alongside other BBC Performing Groups, such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra , and
234-498: 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
260-798: 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
286-530: The 2017–2018 season, with an initial contract of 4 years. In January 2024, the orchestra announced simultaneously the scheduled departure of Inkinen as its chief conductor at the close of the 2024–2025 season, and the appointment of Josep Pons as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2025–2026 season. Radio orchestra Famous broadcast orchestras include the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–1954) conducted by Arturo Toscanini ,
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#1732771982887312-623: The BBC Singers. Over its history, the BBC Singers has performed and commissioned more than a hundred new works. These include Gustav Holst 's The Morning of the Year (1927), Benjamin Britten 's A Boy was Born (1934), and works by Michael Berkeley , Sir Richard Rodney Bennett , John Casken , Sir Peter Maxwell Davies , Thea Musgrave , Edmund Rubbra , Robert Saxton , Sir John Tavener , Sir Michael Tippett and Iannis Xenakis . Select list of commissioned works: In 2002, Edward Cowie became
338-750: The Second World War, the choir was forced to relocate several times from its base in Maida Vale, briefly taking up residence in Bristol, Bangor and Bedford. In 1945, the choir gave the premiere of Francis Poulenc 's wartime cantata Figure humaine from the Concert Hall of Broadcasting House . After the war, from the late 1940s onwards, the BBC Singers began to tour across Europe, under the direction of conductors such as Herbert von Karajan , Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter . In England,
364-744: 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 the NDR Big Band. West German Broadcasting ( WDR ) has two orchestras in Cologne and
390-717: The Wireless Chorus, for performances where fewer singers were required. Guest conductors of both groups during these early years included Sir Edward Elgar , Igor Stravinsky , Arnold Schoenberg and John Barbirolli . In 1931, the Wireless Chorus was invited to perform at the Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music , the first time this event had been held in Britain. On appointment of Leslie Woodgate as general chorus master in 1934,
416-517: The choir from 1995 to 2007, held the title of conductor laureate with the choir until his death in 2019. Bob Chilcott is the current principal guest conductor of the choir. David Hill was the most recent conductor from 2007 to 2017. Sofi Jeannin was a guest-conductor of the choir in January 2017. In May 2017, the BBC announced her appointment as the choir's next chief conductor, the first woman to hold
442-530: The choir it worked with George Enescu , Sir Thomas Beecham , Otto Klemperer and Igor Stravinsky . From 1946, they became a regular feature of the BBC's new radio arts network, the Third Programme . During the middle years of the twentieth century, the choir premiered major works by Darius Milhaud , Frank Martin , Paul Hindemith , Gerald Finzi , Sir Michael Tippett , Pierre Boulez , Sir Arthur Bliss and Karol Szymanowski . Pierre Boulez began
468-491: The choir later in the year as part of its "new strategy" for classical music. Following public reactions in protest at this announcement, the BBC reversed this decision on 24 March. In February 2024, the BBC announced a new partnership between the BBC Singers and the Voces8 Foundation for future sustainability of the BBC Singers. In July 2024, the BBC announced the appointment of Jonathan Manners as director of
494-508: The early 1990s, after the Rev. David Winter (head of BBC religious broadcasting from 1982 to 1989) judged that its sound was "too clinical" for worship. The appointment of Bo Holten as Guest Conductor in 1991 introduced a new focus and approach to early music. The BBC Singers now work regularly with early music specialists, including Peter Phillips ( Tallis Scholars ) and Robert Hollingworth ( I Fagiolini ). Stephen Cleobury , chief conductor of
520-850: 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 the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio (formerly
546-433: The group include Sir Peter Pears , Sarah Connolly , Judith Bingham and Harry Christophers . In 1924, the BBC engaged Stanford Robinson as Chorus Master. He formed a choir for a performance of Rutland Boughton 's Immortal Hour . This choir, known as 'The Wireless Chorus', was thereafter established as a full-time professional choir. In 1927, the BBC created an octet named 'The Wireless Singers', drawn from members of
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#1732771982887572-470: The group was renamed the BBC Singers, and divided into two octets, known as Singers A and Singers B, one specialising in less standard repertoire including Renaissance polyphony and madrigals, the other in light music and revue numbers. Singers A were typically paid £1 per week more than Singers B. In 1939, Woodgate described the operation and function of the various BBC choirs, including the professional choir, in an interview with The Musical Times . During
598-446: 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. Beginning in 2011, Karel Mark Chichon served as chief conductor. He was scheduled to step down from the post after the 2016–2017 season. In September 2016, the orchestra announced the appointment of Pietari Inkinen as its next chief conductor, effective with
624-728: The orchestra date back to 1937. In 1951, Emmerich Smola established the Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern for the Südwestfunk (Southwest Radio). 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. In 1973, this orchestra merged with
650-464: The post, with effect from July 2018. In April 2022, the BBC announced the extension of Jeannin's contract as chief conductor of the BBC Singers through 2026, along with the appointments of Owain Park as principal guest conductor, Roderick Williams as composer-in-association, and Anna Lapwood and Abel Selaocoe each as an artist-in-association. On 7 March 2023, the BBC announced its decision to close
676-828: 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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