Hague Philharmonic Orchestra (Residentie Orkest)

This orchestra, known as Residentie Orkest in it’s native Netherlands was founded by the conductor Henri Viotta in 1904. He led the orchestra in it’s first performance of Symphony No. 4 by Pietr Tchaikovsky and Violin Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn at the Gebouw voor Kunsten & Wetenschappen in The Hague, which would be its first home.

In 1911 it performed at the Richard Strauss Festival, with Richard Strauss conducting the orchestra for some of his musical works. This caught the attention of other composers who wanted the orchestra to perform their works. Four years later in 1915 it took the place of the Orchestre Lamoureux in the summer performances of the Kurzaal Concerts in Scheveningen.

In 1917 the composer Peter van Anrooy became the orchestra’s chief conductor and remained in that position until he resigned in 1935 and was succeeded by Frits Schuurman who continued in the post until 1949, after working with them all through World War II. He was followed by the cellist and composer Willem van Otterloo who led the orchestra until 1973. The next conductor that led the orchestra include Jean Martinon, Ferdinand Leither, Hans Vonk and Evgeny Svetlanov.

From 2000 it was conducted by Jaap van Zweden until 2005 and since then he has been an honorary guest conductor. He was succeeded by Neeme Jarvi who led the orchestra from 2005 to 2012, leaving his position as the chief conductor emeritus. The next year the conductor was Richard Egarr was given the post of principal guest conductor and stayed in that position for initially three years. During his time there in 2014 the orchestra took away the post of chief conductor and went for a new conductor hierarchy from 2015 where Jan Willem de Vriend became the principal conductor for four years where he worked for 6 weeks in a season. From 2016 Nicholas Collon started to work as the co-principal conductor, after having been hired for that position in 2015. He also worked for 6 weeks a season for a three year term. This was changed in 2017 when he became the artistic advisor and sole chief conductor, with the conductorship lasting until 2021. In 2022 the orchestra announced Anja Bihimaier would become their first female chief conductor, after having been a guest conductor in 2018. She remained in the post until the end of the 2024-25 season with her replacement being the previous principal guest conductor Jan Markl.

During Willen van Otterloo’s tenure with the orchestra the Gebouw voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen burned down so it had to perform in several venues in The Hague until it took residence at the new hall named Dr. Anton Philipszaal in 1987, which was opened by Queen Beatrix. The hall was set to be demolished in 2015 and from that time until 2021 the orchestra performed at the Zuidstrandtheatre in Scheveningen. From 2021 it has performed at the Amare Performing Arts Centre in The Hague.

During the years since the orchestra started it has toured Europe and the United States and made its debut appearance at the BBC Proms in 2008. It has been led by guest conductors that include Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and Arturo Toscanini.

The orchestra has released many recordings during the years with some of the including Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Bruckner: Sinfonia Nr. 7 E-dur, Dorati in Holland, Live at Gnawa Festival, The Complete 1950s Chopin Recordings, Willen van Otterloo: The Original Recordings: 1951-1966, The Complete Matthijs Vermeulen Edition: Orchestral Music, Nikolai Tcherepnin: Narcisse et Echo, Verdi: Requiem, Hol: Symphonies 1 & 3, Liszt: Works for Piano and Orchestra Vol. 2, Mahler: The Complete Symphonies, Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9, Masters of the Bow: Cello, Legendary Performances: Pavarotti, The Great Symphonies, Great Works for Flute & Orchestra and numerous others.

It is the initiator of SYMPHONY 30 which brings social and music activities in The Hague and it has developed its own musical education programme for all ages.

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Hague Philharmonic Orchestra (Residentie Orkest)

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