The National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia) was founded in 2003 following the dissolution of the Colombia Symphony Orchestra (Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia) in December 2002. The Colombia Symphony Orchestra had been in operation since 1952 under the auspices of the government of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and was dissolved as part of an extensive plan of state privatization

Privatization

Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

. The Colombian National Symphony Orchestra is part of the National Association of Symphonic Music (Asociación Nacional de Música Sinfónica), a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that receives extensive support from the Colombian government to maintain the orchestra and to provide financial support to the other professional symphony orchestras in the country. From 2003 to 2007, the orchestra's artistic direction was run under the collegial management of three music directors: Luis Biava, who was conductor in residence of the Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

 until 2004; Alejandro Posada, music director of the Symphonic Orchestra of Castile and Leon (Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León); and Eduardo Carrizosa, who was assistant conductor of the Bogota Philharmonic

Bogota Philharmonic

The Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, or Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, is the most important Symphony Orchestra in Colombia. It is a project maintained by the city of Bogotá and its Secretary Office of Culture, Recreation and Sport. Founded in 1967, it regularly performs at the Jorge Eliécer Gaitán...

 (Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá) until 2003. In 2007, and in pursue of a new model of artistic management, the Orchestra opened a search process for a new Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. In October 2008, Baldur Brönnimann

Baldur Brönnimann

-Biography:Brönnimann was born in Switzerland, and at the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel and was a Junior Fellow in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester....

 was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. The Colombian National Symphony Orchestra is, along with the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most active orchestras in Colombia.

Music Directors

Until the end of 2007, the orchestra operated under the collegial management of three music directors:

• Luis Biava
• Alejandro Posada
• Eduardo Carrizosa

In October 2008, Baldur Brönnimann

Baldur Brönnimann

-Biography:Brönnimann was born in Switzerland, and at the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel and was a Junior Fellow in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester....

was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director.

External links

• Orchestra's web site (in Spanish): http://www.asociacion-sinfonica.org
• Baldur Brönnimann: http://baldur.info