Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern & Pietari Inkinen
Biography Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern & Pietari Inkinen
German Radio Philharmonic Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern
The German Radio Philharmonic (DRP) draws on the full richness and diversity that classical music offers. The radio symphony orchestra, jointly sponsored by Saarländischer Rundfunk and Südwestrundfunk, is based in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern.
With chief conductor Pietari Inkinen, the orchestra explores the entire symphonic cosmos of the late Romantic period – including works by Anton Bruckner, Antonín Dvořák, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Richard Wagner, as well as the early modernist repertoire of the first half of the 20th century, featuring composers such as Béla Bartók, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. The main theme of Pietari Inkinen's work with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie is Finnish national composer Jean Sibelius – his symphonies as well as repertoire rarities.
The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie also brings baroque and contemporary music, new and rediscovered works, neglected works, and excursions into jazz and pop to the concert hall. Concerts for classical music beginners, families, and schools are also an integral part of the orchestra's work. Three chamber music series and the "Moments Musicaux" are independently curated and performed by orchestra members.
Guest performances take the orchestra to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Arsenal Metz, the Festspielhaus Salzburg, and the Philharmonie Cologne. Tour destinations in recent years have included South Korea several times, as well as Switzerland, Poland, and China.
Major figures from the contemporary classical music scene are guests of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, as are young artists on their way to becoming world-class musicians. The orchestra is particularly committed to promoting young talent. The Skrowaczewski Academy, founded in 2024, enables scholarship holders to experience the daily working life and the associated demands placed on musicians in a top-class professional orchestra. Along with the "International Saarbrücken Composition Workshop," which awards the Theodore Gouvy Composition Prize, the "Saarbrücken Conducting Workshop," and the "SWR Young Opera Stars" competition, the Orchestra Academy is another component of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie's commitment to promoting excellence.
The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra and the SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern. The founding chief conductor was Christoph Poppen, succeeded in 2011 by the Briton Karel Mark Chichon. Finnish Chief Conductor Pietari Inkinen, in office since 2017, will step down in summer 2025 and remain with the orchestra as a guest conductor. Josep Pons will be designated Chief Conductor starting with the 2025/26 season.
