The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, in German Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is the internationally renowned orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian Radio), based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the three principal orchestras in the city of Munich, along with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra. Its primary concert venues are the Philharmonie am Gasteig and the Herkulessaal in the Munich Residenz.
The orchestra was founded in 1949, with members of an earlier radio orchestra in Munich as the core personnel. Eugen Jochum was the orchestra's first chief conductor, from 1949 until 1960. Subsequent chief conductors have included Rafael Kubelík, the longest serving of the orchestra's chief conductors, as well as Sir Colin Davis and Lorin Maazel. Since 2003, the orchestra's chief conductor is Mariss Jansons. His current contract with the orchestra is through August 2015.[1]
The orchestra participates in the "Musica Viva" concerts, originally founded by the composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann, to this day.[2]
The orchestra received the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance for its recording of Shostakovich's 13th Symphony. It was named the 6th best orchestra in Europe in a survey for Le Monde de la Musique[3] and 6th best orchestra in the world by The Gramophone magazine in 2008[4].