Almost 60 years of the history of Bamberger Symphoniker means hundreds of concerts from Brazil to Japan, under the baton of legendary conductors – from Rudolf Kempe to Georg Solti.

The Bamberg Symphony was formed in 1946 from among the former members of the German Philharmonic of Prague. In 1949 the Bamberg Symphony was the first German orchestra to be invited to France after the Second World War. The first Principal Conductor was Joseph Keilberth, who had known most of the players from his days as General Music Director of the of the German Philharmonic of Prague. He retained his post in Bamberg until his death in 1968, to be followed by James Loughran and Horst Stein, the latter now bearing the title of Honorary Conductor for Life.

The list of celebrated guest conductors of the Bamberg Symphony includes Rudolf Kempe, Hans Knappertsbusch, Eugen Jochum, Georg Solti, and more recently, Gerd Albrecht, Christoph von Dohnányi, Semyon Bychkov, Mariss Jansons, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ingo Metzmacher, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. In addition, composers Witold Lutoslawski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Aram Khachaturian, and Cristóbal Halffter have conducted the orchestra in their own works.

The Bamberg Symphony gives more than 100 performances annually, including many on tour in Germany and abroad. Since 2000 Britain’s Jonathan Nott has been Principal Conductor, enlarging the orchestra’s repertoire to include numerous works of New Music. Under his baton, the orchestra has given concerts in Vienna and Amsterdam, in Switzerland, Brazil, and Japan, and at the Edinburgh Festival and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. This concerts marks the orchestra’s Salzburg Festival debut.

The Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, which in July 2003 was bestowed with the title of Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie, is funded through financial contributions from the State of Bavaria, the City of Bamberg, the Administrative District and Region of Frankonia.