Principal Conductor: Michael Hofstetter

Founded in 1945, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has held a top position in the international orchestral world for more than 60 years. As it is the oldest professional chamber orchestra in the world it undoubtedly serves as a model for others.

Under Karl Münchinger, founder and director of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra for many years, the ensemble had a completely new and exemplary way of interpreting Johann Sebastian Bach. It developed and cultivated the repertoire of the Viennese Classicists. Thus it became the precursor of historical performances.  

The first disc recordings date back to the year 1948. They account for one of the most successful orchestra biographies of post-war Germany at that time. A comprehensive discography was created and the recordings won various awards (amongst others the Grand Prix du Disque). Millions of recordings have since been sold worldwide. Mozart´s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” (A Little Night Music) alone was awarded with the “Golden Record” for over one million copies.

Innumerable concert performances around the globe and participation in the top international music festivals are evidence enough of the high quality and the outstanding reputation of the ensemble. Conductors such as Ferdinand Leitner, Trevor Pinnock, Frans Brüggen, Andreas Delfs, Dimitry Sitkovetsky or Lev Markiz have led the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and many world famous soloists have performed at concerts together with the ensemble. Just to name a few: Henryk Szeryng, Bruno Leonardo Gelber, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Heinrich Schiff, Christian Zacharias, Mischa Maisky, Kim Kashkashian, Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek and Shlomo Mintz.

Dennis Russell Davies was the orchestra’s principal conductor from 1995 to 2006. In the selection of works, he  set a new course: with music of the 20^th century the orchestra has been able to distinguish itself successfully, both in concerts as well as in recordings. Composers such as Philip Glass or Giya Kancheli have dedicated works to the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, commissions are regularly awarded to composers and the repertoire is constantly cultivated and renewed.

There is a close cooperation between the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the recording label ECM. Piano concerts of W.A. Mozart played by the jazz pianist Keith Jarrett as well as recordings with the Hilliard Ensemble, Jan Garbarek and Kim Kashkashian have been published under this label.

In addition to CDs the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra has begun to produce DVD-Audios. Recent recordings of all Brandenburg Concertos directed by the principal concertmaster Benjamin Hudson and the recordings of the J.S. Bach violin concerts (TACET) as well as P.I. Tschaikovsky String serenade op. 48, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies (published by MDG) and Giya Kancheli, Diplipito/Valse Boston (ECM Records) have all received the best reviews in the international trade press.

The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra perceives itself as a messenger of music of the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, and proves its dedication by many international guest performances. The cultural community in Stuttgart offers 9 subscription concerts with the orchestra in the Mozart Hall of the Liederhalle. Furthermore a project which is unique world-wide has been realized under the sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz/Stuttgart: the “Haydn Decade”. During a period of eleven years, from 1998 till 2009, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra directed by Dennis Russell Davies performs all the symphonies by Joseph Haydn and records these on CD.

The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra is a frequent guest on international concert podiums. In addition to numerous national and European guest performances (2002/2003: Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, Hungary) the orchestra had been touring the Far East (Malaysia and Singapore in 2002, Japan, Korea, and China in 2003), South America (2003), the USA (2003), Japan and Korea 2005, Israel, Switzerland, Greece and Italy in 2006.

Since september 2006 Michael Hofstetter is principal conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra.  

Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact M.A.M. Management to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.