Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra
The Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (German: Nürnberger Symphoniker) is a German orchestra based in Nuremberg. Its principal concert venue is the Meistersingerhalle. The orchestra's current Intendant (managing and artistic director) is Lucius A. Hemmer, since September 2003.

History
The orchestra began in 1946 as the Franconia State Orchestra (Fränkisches Landesorchester), with Erich Kloss as its first chief conductor. In the early 1950s, the orchestra accrued international acclaim for their recordings of the sound tracks to Quo Vadis and Ben Hur by Miklós Rózsa.
The orchestra took its current name in 1963 for the dedication of the newly built Meistersingerhalle.[1] In 1993, the orchestra won a Grammy Award in the category Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the soundtrack of Beauty and the Beast.[2]
Since 2008, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra has a new rehearsal and concert hall with a seating capacity of 515, the Neuer Musiksaal. During the summer, it also presents an open-air concert series in the Serenadenhof, the southern courtyard of the Congress Hall.
After serving as festival orchestra of the Heidenheim Opera Festival for 25 years, the Nuremberg Symphony took over the same position at Frankonian Summer Festival in 2013. The orchestra has recorded both for the Bavarian radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk) and for commercial CD labels. Every summer, the orchestra participates in Europe's largest open air classical music event, Klassik Open Air.[3]
The orchestra's current chief conductor is Kahchun Wong, as of the 2018–2019 season.[4][5] In October 2021, the orchestra announced that Wong is scheduled to stand down as its chief conductor in August 2022.[6]
Chief conductors
- Erich Kloss (1949–1968)
- Othmar Mága (1968–1970)
- Günter Neidlinger (1971–1974)
- Werner Andreas Albert (1974–1980)
- Klauspeter Seibel (1980–1988)
- Georg Schmöhe (1989–1992)
- Thomas Gabrisch (1994–1997)
- Jac van Steen (1997–2002)
- Bernhard Gueller (2005–2009)
- Alexander Shelley (2009–2017)
- Kahchun Wong (2018–2022)
- Jonathan Darlington (2022–)[7]
References
- "Meistersingerhalle on the official Nuremberg website". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- "1993 Grammy Awards (see Best Pop Instrumental Performance)". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- "Klassik Open Air on BR-online (German language)". 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- "Kahchun Wong wird neuer Chefdirigent" (PDF) (Press release). Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. 20 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- Susanne Alt and Hannah Schultheiß (16 March 2018). "Der neue Chefdirigent Kahchun Wong – locker und humorvoll". BR24 (Bavarian Radio). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- "Chefdirigent Kahchun Wong verlässt Nürnberger Symphoniker". NMZ. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
- "Darlington neuer Generalmusikdirektor der Nürnberger Symphoniker – neue musikzeitung". nmz (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2022.