The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (Serbian

Serbian language

Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

: Београдска филхармонија / Beogradska filharmonija) is an orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 in Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, regularly considered as one of the finest in the country. Its home base is in Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

.

History

Unlike most European countries and cities Serbia and Belgrade were rather late in receiving a fine orchestra. Thus the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1923. Its founder

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

, first director

Music director

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

 and chief conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

 was Stevan Hristić

Stevan Hristic

Stevan Hristić , , was the most popular Serbian composer of the first half of the 20th century, remembered best for his technically cultivated compositions in the Neoromanticist, veristic, and Romanticist-Impressionist styles.-Biography:He conducted his primary studies in Leipzig, but also in...

, one of the most important Serbian

Serbs

The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...

 composers and conductors

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

. The inauguration

Inauguration

An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....

 concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

 of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra took place on April 28, 1923 under the baton of maestro

Maestro

Maestro is a title of extreme respect given to a master musician. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera. This is associated with the ubiquitous use of Italian vocabulary for classical music terms...

 Hristić.

With a steady increase in popularity for fine music in Serbia the orchestra and its programme exapnded over the years building up to an exceptional level of musical performance reaching its peak in the 1960s. The Belgrade Philharmonic was ranked 5th best European orchestra by international experts, at the time when it was led by Živojin Zdravković

Živojin Zdravkovic

Živojin Zdravković , a Serbian conductor, served as chief conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and professor of conducting at the Music Academy in Belgrade. He was also a member and president of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia.-References:*Ikonomova, V...

.

The downfall of the orchestra occurred in 1990. Due to the civil wars in Yugoslavia the Belgrade Philharmonic was banned to play internationally for some time. As a consequence many musicians left the orchestra. Without funding, the orchestra rarely played. However as the political situation in Serbia changed and the country welcomed back into the international community so was the orchestra.

After 2000 the orchestra was completely revived. It first toured Slovenia, Austria, Italy and Sweden. Young musicians, educated outside of Serbia in specialist musician centres arrived in at Belgrade Philharmonic creating a new image of the Orchestra, with an average age of just 28.

In 2004 the performance hall in Belgrade was completely rebuilt and modernise to facilitate the new needs of the orchestra. The hall has a total of 201 seats. Most of the concerts, by tradition, take place in the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment

Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment

Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment is a building in central Belgrade. Also known as Kolarac University , it is located on Studentski Square....

's Hall, while the central Hall is used for special events. The Belgrade Philharmonic Foundation was set up in 2004 to improve the financial situation within the orchestra through sponsorships and cooperation. The foundation was successes and the whole orchestra renewed their instruments in 2005.

Present

Currently the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra holds multiple concerts. Its season generally starts in October and ends in June. Its New Year

New Year

The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....

's concert is very popular and is held in the large Sava Centar performance hall in Belgrade. For its New Year's concert, the orchestra is usually conducted by a special guest.

The Belgrade Philharmonic Hall is modernly equipped, located in central Belgrade. Therefore this is where many of the Orchestra's concerts are held. Besides usual orchestra rehearsals, the Belgrade Philharmonic Hall lends itself to soloist's, chamber and other orchestra's performances, as well as to promotions, presentations, jubilees and exhibitions. The hall has exceptional acoustics. The appealing interior of the Belgrade Philharmonic Hall attracts numerous renowned companies to promote their products, present their services, as well as to hold their jubilees. Among those there were the American Economic Chamber, and companies like Roche, Pharma Swiss, Common Sense, "Atika Media" and many others. The Belgrade Philharmonic Hall was is the setting for many commercials and videos.

Chief Conductors

The Orchestra was consequently led by eminent conductors: Lovro Matačić, Oskar Danon

Oskar Danon

Oskar Danon was a Bosnian Jewish composer and conductor.-Early life and education:Oskar Danon was born in 1913 in Sarajevo, then in the Austria-Hungarian Empire but now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He studied music in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he obtained his Ph.D...

, Mihajlo Vukdragović

Mihajlo Vukdragovic

Mihajlo Vukdragović was a Serbian composer and conductor, Professor at the Belgrade Music Academy and the Chancellor of the University of Arts in Belgrade.-External links:...

, Krešimir Baranović

Krešimir Baranovic

Krešimir Baranović was a Yugoslav composer and conductor. He was conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgrade Opera, Orchestra of the Radio Belgrade and professor at the Belgrade Music Academy.-References:*Maksimović, M...

, Živojin Zdravković

Živojin Zdravkovic

Živojin Zdravković , a Serbian conductor, served as chief conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and professor of conducting at the Music Academy in Belgrade. He was also a member and president of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia.-References:*Ikonomova, V...

, Angel Šurev, Anton Kolar, Horst Ferster, Jovan Šajnović

Jovan Šajnovic

Jovan Šajnović was a renowned Yugoslavian conductor and university professor.-Education:Šajnović started to study music with eminent Yugoslav musicians - Emil Hajek , Ljubica Marić and Mihajlo Vukdragović...

, Vassily Sinaisky

Vassily Sinaisky

Vassily Serafimovich Sinaisky is a Russian conductor and pianist. He studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory and began his career as Assistant to Kirill Kondrashin at the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra...

, Emil Tabakov

Emil Tabakov

Emil Tabakov is a Bulgarian conductor, composer, and double-bass player. He is the former chief conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and Bilkent Symphony Orchestra. He has composed seven symphonies, instrumental concertos, and a requiem to date....

, Uroš Lajovic

Uroš Lajovic

-Education:Uroš Lajovic graduated composition and conducting from the Music Academy of Ljubljana and received his master’s degree at the Music Academy in Vienna where he studied under the tuition of Hans Swarowsky. Lajovic also attended master classes at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where he...

, Dorian Wilson

Dorian Wilson

Dorian Wilson is an American conductor and musical director.Wilson has achieved widespread acclaim, especially in Germany and Russia. In September 2010, Wilson opened the 2010/2011 season for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera with a concert of Schubert's and Shostakovich's 5th symphonies...

 and from September 2010 Muhai Tang

Muhai Tang

Muhai Tang is a Chinese conductor. He is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Tang Xiaodan and brother of painter and poet Tang Muli....

.

Guest Artists

A great number of renowned conductors and soloist

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

s have appeared with the Orchestra, including: Rafael Kubelík

Rafael Kubelík

Rafael Jeroným Kubelík was a Czech conductor and composer.-Early life:Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me." His mother was a Hungarian...

, Malcolm Sargent

Malcolm Sargent

Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...

, sir Colin Davis

Colin Davis

Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett....

, André Navarra

André Navarra

André-Nicolas Navarra was a French cellist and cello teacher.-Early life:...

, Karl Boehm, Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

, Kiril Kondrashin

Kiril Kondrashin

Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin , was a Russian conductor.-Early life:...

, Genady Rozhdestvensky, Lorin Maazel

Lorin Maazel

Lorin Varencove Maazel is an American conductor, violinist and composer.- Early life :Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel , was...

, Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

, Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...

, Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

, David Oistrakh

David Oistrakh

David Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....

, Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...

, Henrik Schering, Leonid Kogan, Mstislav Rostropovich

Mstislav Rostropovich

Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...

, Julian Lloyd Webber

Julian Lloyd Webber

Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...

, Arthur Rubinstein

Arthur Rubinstein

Arthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...

, Sviatoslav Richter

Sviatoslav Richter

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...

, Emil Gilels

Emil Gilels

Emil Grigoryevich Gilels was a Soviet pianist, widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.His last name is sometimes transliterated Hilels.-Biography:...

, Bruno Brun

Bruno Brun

Bruno Brun was a Yugoslavian clarinetist and professor at the Academy of Music in Belgrade.-Education:...

, Milenko Stefanović

Milenko Stefanovic

Milenko Stefanović is the most famous Serbian and Yugoslav clarinetist: a prizewinner in the international competitions in Moscow, Munich, Geneva and Prague, soloist who has achieved significant international career, long-time principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and...

, Ernest Ačkun

Ernest Ackun

Ernest Ačkun was a Yugoslav / Slovenian clarinetist.-Early life:Ernest Ačkun was born in Hrastnik, Slovenia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia....

, Ante Grgin

Ante Grgin

Ante Grgin is a Serbian clarinetist and composer.-Education:Grgin started his early training at the School of Music in Split...

, Božidar Milošević

Božidar Miloševic

Božidar "Boki" Milošević is a Serbian clarinetist. Although he completed undergraduate and graduate studies of classical music at the Academy of Music in Belgrade, where he studied with Bruno Brun, he mostly plays folk music.He is a member of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia and was...

, Radmila Bakočević

Radmila Bakocevic

Radmila Bakočević , is a Serbian operatic soprano who had a major international opera career that began in 1955 and ended upon her retirement from the stage in 1982...

, Biserka Cvejić

Biserka Cvejic

Biserka Cvejić is a famous Serbian opera singer and university professor.She sang in the Metropolitan Opera , Covent Garden , Wiener Staatsoper , La Scala , as well as in Belgrade, Zagreb, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major opera houses in the world.She is a member of the Association of...

, Miroslav Čangalović

Miroslav Cangalovic

Miroslav Čangalović was a Serbian opera and concert singer and is considered to be one of the greatest basses in Serbian and Yugoslav history.Čangalović was born in a small Bosnian town of Glamoč...

, Dušan Trbojević

Dušan Trbojevic

Dušan Trbojević was a famous Serbian pianist, composer, musical writer and university professor.-Education:...

, Rudolf Kempf, Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer

Gidon Kremer is a Latvian violinist and conductor. In 1980 he left the USSR and settled in Germany.-Biography:Kremer was born in Riga to parents of German-Jewish and Latvian-Swedish origins. He began playing the violin at the age of four, receiving instruction from his father and his grandfather,...

, Ivo Pogorelić

Ivo Pogorelic

Ivo Pogorelić is a Croatian pianist.-Early life:He was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, now Serbia, to a Croatian father and a Serbian mother...

, Tatjana Olujić

Tatjana Olujic

Tatjana Olujić is a Serbian violinist and university professor. She is a Professor at Faculty of Music Art in Belgrade having studied violin with the Professor Andre Gertler and the chamber music with the Maestro Van Den Doorn in Belgium....

, Gustav Kuhn, Ivan Fischer

Iván Fischer

Iván Fischer is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a Jewish musical family, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest...

, Vladimir Krainev

Vladimir Krainev

Vladimir Krainev was a Russian pianist and professor of piano, People's Artist of the USSR.-Biography:...

, Maksim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin

Julian Rachlin

Julian Rachlin is a Lithuanian-born violinist and violist.-Background and early life:Born in Vilnius, he emigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to Austria. In 1983, he entered the Konservatorium Wien and studied violin in the Soviet tradition with Boris Kuschnir, while also receiving private...

, Valery Afanassiev

Valery Afanassiev

- Life :Valery Afanassiev was born in Moscow. He studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Emil Gilels and Yakov Zak. In 1969 he was the winner of the Bach Competition in Leipzig, and three years later at the Concours Reine Elisabeth in Brussels...

, Dorian Wilson

Dorian Wilson

Dorian Wilson is an American conductor and musical director.Wilson has achieved widespread acclaim, especially in Germany and Russia. In September 2010, Wilson opened the 2010/2011 season for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera with a concert of Schubert's and Shostakovich's 5th symphonies...

, Nigel Kennedy

Nigel Kennedy

Nigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...

, Sarah Chang

Sarah Chang

Sarah Chang is a Korean American violinist. Her debut came in 1989 with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Shortly thereafter, Chang was recognized as a child prodigy. She enrolled at Juilliard School to study music, graduating in 1999 and continuing university studies...

, Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...

, Muhai Tang

Muhai Tang

Muhai Tang is a Chinese conductor. He is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Tang Xiaodan and brother of painter and poet Tang Muli....

.