The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Swedish: Kungliga Filharmonikerna or Kungliga Filharmoniska Orkestern) was founded in 1902 as the Stockholm Concert Society (Konsertföreningens orkester). The orchestra became a permanent ensemble in 1914. Since 1926, it has been based in the Stockholm Concert Hall (Konserthuset). Starting in 1937, Radiotjänst (now Swedish Radio) utilized the orchestra as its main broadcast orchestra, in lieu of having its own in-house orchestra. In 1957, it was renamed the the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (Stockholms Filharmoniska Orkester) and 1992 it acquired its present name.

Georg Schnéevoigt was the first principal conductor of the orchestra. From 2000 to 2008, the American conductor Alan Gilbert was the orchestra's principal conductor. In 2008, Sakari Oramo took over the post, for an initial contract of 3 years.

The orchestra participates annually in the Nobel Prize ceremonies and the Polar Prize for music celebrations. The organization also organizes two annual festivals at its home, the Stockholm Concert Hall, namely the Stockholm International Composer Festival (2007: Tan Dun) and Composer Weekend in May, focusing on a contemporary Swedish composer.

Principal conductors

• Georg Schnéevoigt (1915–1924)
• Václav Talich (1926–1936)
• Fritz Busch (1937–1940)
• Carl Garaguly (1942–1953)
• Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt (1955–1964)
• Antal Doráti (1966–1974)
• Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (1974–1977)
• Yuri Ahronovitch (1982–1987)
• Paavo Berglund (1987–1990)
• Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (1991–1995)
• Andrew Davis and Paavo Järvi (1995–1998)
• Alan Gilbert (2000–2008)
• Sakari Oramo (2008–).

References