Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
For more than a hundred years, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra has been "on air" and performing live in concert halls. Founded as one of the oldest symphony orchestras for radio broadcasting in Europe, its history dates back to the birth of public broadcasting in Germany on 29 October 1923. Since that day, radio pioneers such as Otto Urack, Bruno Seidler-Winkler, Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith as well as principal conductors such as Eugen Jochum, Sergiu Celibidache, Hermann Abendroth, Rolf Kleinert, Heinz Rögner and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos have shaped an ensemble that has experienced the highs and lows of German history in the 20th century "first-hand" like hardly any other German orchestra.
In the 21st century, Marek Janowski (2001 to 2016) was succeeded in 2017 by Vladimir Jurowski, who currently shapes the profile of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin as its principal conductor and artistic director. Under his baton, the RSB has cemented its status among the leading ensembles of Berlin’s orchestral and German broadcasting landscape.
This season, Jörg Widmann will be appearing as Artist in Residence. The internationally renowned composer, clarinettist and conductor, who has been associated with the RSB for many years, will take on a variety of roles: he will perform in two symphony concerts (featuring works by Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Rachmaninoff and his own compositions), a chamber concert (featuring works by Mozart and his own compositions), and will lead a masterclass for academy students.
Renowned guest conductors, who are now among the world’s leading figures, made their respective Berlin debuts with the RSB: Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Vasily Petrenko, Jakub Hrůša, Alain Altinoglu, Omer Meir Wellber, Lahav Shani, Karina Canellakis (Principal Guest Conductor of the RSB from 2019 to 2023). In recent years, a promising collaboration has begun with Tarmo Peltokoski, Petr Popelka, Ruth Reinhardt, Edward Gardner, Nicholas Carter and others.
In the 2026/2027 season, 21st-century music is prominently featured in all its stylistic and cultural diversity. A particular focus is on works by contemporary female composers, including Sara Abazari, Unsuk Chin, Anna Clyne, Kathrin A. Denner, Hannah Eisendle, Georgia Koumará, Camille Pépin, Kaija Saariaho, Outi Tarkiainen and Anna Thorvaldsdóttir. The programme is complemented by composers such as Thomas Adès, Steven Banks, Tan Dun, Samy Moussa and Max Richter, as well as artists such as Brandt Brauer Frick, Rob Laidlow and Andile Khumalo.
From the very beginning, renowned composers of the 20th and 21st centuries have taken to the podium of the Berlin Radio Orchestra or performed their own works as soloists: Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Hans Pfitzner, Sergei Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Vladimir Vogel, Kurt Weill and Alexander Zemlinsky, as well as, more recently, Krzysztof Penderecki, Berthold Goldschmidt, Peter Maxwell Davies, Friedrich Goldmann, Peter Ruzicka, Daniel Schnyder, Siegfried Matthus, Heinz Holliger, Brett Dean and Marko Nikodijević.
In total, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra will give 25 symphony concerts at the Philharmonie Berlin and the Konzerthaus Berlin during the new season. In addition, there will be three concerts in the "Jazzik" series, two "story concerts", three family concerts, three school concerts, five guided rehearsals, as well as – new and not yet printed in the season brochure – three "Concerts for Everyone". At the KinderKünsteZentrum Berlin and the Exploratorium Berlin, 24 performances will take place as part of the "Rapauke" series for nursery school children. The RSB invites you to six chamber concerts at the Kühlhaus Berlin, the Theater im Delphi, the Ballhaus Wedding and the silent green cultural quarter, curated and performed by members of the orchestra. In addition, six micro-concerts will be held at the Humboldt Forum, as well as four concert broadcasts at the Zeiss Großplanetarium.
Almost all of the RSB’s symphony concerts are recorded for radio and broadcast on Deutschlandfunk and rbb radio, as well as worldwide via the European Broadcasting Union. In 2025, there were 86 concert broadcasts in 26 countries. In addition, the RSB produces numerous studio recordings, often featuring valuable repertoire rarities. Recent releases include Paul Büttner’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4, Leokadiya Kashperova’s Piano Concerto Op. 2 and the Symphony Op. 4 by Leokadiya Kashperova, the music by Engelbert Humperdinck for the stage work "Das Mirakel", as well as the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Emil von Sauer and the Piano Concerto Op. 28 by Conrad Ansorge (all released by Capriccio).
The RSB performs live both nationally and internationally. For more than 50 years, it has regularly appeared at German and European festivals, in the Far East and in music centres around the world. Next season, the orchestra will give eleven guest performances in cities including Munich, Vienna, Innsbruck, Hamburg and at the Varna International Music Festival in Bulgaria.