Without music life would be a mistake. Friedrich Nietzsche
Logo of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Today the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra finds itself among the best in the international music world.
Its members are professional musicians with an apparent love for their art. Critics often praise the uniqueness of their sound and the close harmony they obtain. A visit to the Doelen is always an inspiring experience, not only because of the high standard of music but also because of the enthusiastic way the orchestra members are performing. Not ever does it seem to be just a routine for them; the love for their profession is obvious. This makes their concerts all the more special.
Their success is reflected in the amount of visitors that find their way to the orchestras concerts, more than 110.000 every year. Their success does not stop in the Netherlands. During their international tours they always get high praise. They are well liked in Europe but also in the United States and the Far East.
The quality of the orchestra can be heard on several wonderful cd recordings, by well know labels such as EMI, Erato and Philips. They appear on national television on a regular basis, for instance on sunday afternoons in matinee concerts.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra has Valery Gergiev as its first conductor. Gergiev was born in Moscow in 1953. He studied the piano but later he became a student of Ilja Moesin, a famous Russian conductor and teacher at the Moscow school of music. In 1988 he became musical director of the Kirov Theater and also first conductor of the Kirov Opera. In the period of 1989 till 1992 Gergiev was a regular guest conductor in Rotterdam and since 1995 he is the tenth chief conductor. This was not as strait forward as it looks, at the time many orchestras around the world wanted to contract him because he was a becoming very famous very fast. His choice for the Rotterdam Philharmonic was made because of the quality and mentality of the orchestra members and the possibility for artistic growth. Although Gergiev is a very busy man with much obligations world wide, he still wants to be connected to the Rotterdam Philharmonic and has renewed his contract in january 2000.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in full strength as they appear in The Doelen
| Conductors | |
|---|---|
| First conductor | Valery Gergiev |
| Principal guest conductor | Gianandrea Noseda |
| Assistent conductors | Hans Leenders Ernst van Tiel |
| Concert leaders | Vacancy Kees Hülsmann |
| Stringed instruments | |
| First violin | Kaoru Kakudo John Helstone Benzion Shamir Edward LeCouffe Fumi Arai Aesil Kim Itamar Shimon Arno Brons Mireille van der Wart Shelly Greenberg Cor van der Linden Mary O’Reilly Rachel Browne Maria Dingjan Janwillem Toebes Marie-José Schrijner Noëmi Bodden Vacancy |
| Second violin | Mieke Biesta Charlotte Potgieter Misha Furman Frank de Groot Ages Tönkö Zsofia Kiss Philip Philipse Lucian Mihailescu Pieter van der Peijl Mieke Bruijning Ebred Reijnen Tomoko Hara Jolijt Kalkman Elina Hirvilammi Jun Yi Dou Bob Bruijn Laurens van Vliet |
| Voila | Ron Ephrat Vacancy Maartje van Rheeden Michel Dobrowolski Coen van der Heide Wilbert Scheifes David Cox Alison Ewer Kerstin Bonk Caro Wiering Alexander Prummel Janine Baller Francis Saunders Contantijn van de Wetering |
| Violoncello | Marien van Staalen Floris Mijnders Wladislaw Warenberg Joanna Pachucka Rob Hageman Toshifumi Waki András Hegyi Eekje Hoenderdaal Mariëtte Landheer Gé van Leeuwen Eelco Beinema Carla Schrijner |
| Double bass | Hans Krul Peter Luit Bert van Dinteren Ton Doomernik Hardmoed Grefe Harke Wiersma Robert Franenberg Peter Leerdam Matthew Midgley |
| Harp | Charlotte Sprenkels |
| Wind instruments | |
| Flute⁄piccolo | Jo hagen Juliëtte Hurel Désirée Woudenberg Wim Steinmann |
| Oboe⁄English horn | Remco de Vries Alexei Ogrintchouk Hans Cartigny Ron Tijhuis |
| Clarinet⁄bass clarinet | Henk de Graaf Sjef Douwes Jan Jansen Romke-Jan Wijmenga |
| Bassoon | Johan Steinmann Vacancy Marianne Prommel Hans Wisse |
| Horn | Martin van de Merwe Rob Stoel Nico van Vliet Jos Buurman Wendy Leliveld Richard Speetjens |
| Trumpet | Ad van Zon André Heuvelman Arto Hoornweg Simon Wierenga Jos Verspagen |
| Trombone⁄basstrombone | Pierre Volders Alex Verbeek Remko de Jager Ben van Dijk Peter Veenhuizen |
| Tuba | Hendrik–Jan Renes |
| Percussion instruments | |
| Timpani⁄general percussion | Randy Max Danny van de Wal Gerard Vermeulen Huub Righarts Ronald Ent |
Total number of musicians: 114
Staff members: 22
Look at the Rotterdam Philharmonic in action
This picture is taken during a promotional day for the Rotterdam concert-Hall in March 2000, the Rotterdam Philharmonic is getting ready to perform
Look at the children sitting on stage. They are members of the Young Friends of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and they won a competition. Their price: sitting next to their favourite instrument and have a look at close range. The musicians are having fun too!
The members of the Rotterdam Trombone Quartet on stage. They gave a great performance, playing music by Enrico Morricone, Bach and Prokovjev.
The Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestra has an official homepage. Visit them at: WWW.RPHO.NL
