History
Unlike most European countries and cities Serbia and Belgrade were rather late in receiving a fine orchestra. Thus the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1923. Its founder, first director and chief conductor was Stevan Hristić, one of the most important Serbian composers and conductors. The inauguration concert of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra took place on April 28, 1923 under the baton of maestro Hristić.
With a steady increase in popularity for fine music in Serbia the orchestra and its programme exapnded over the years building up to an exceptional level of musical performance reaching its peak in the 1960s. The Belgrade Philharmonic was ranked 5th best European orchestra by international experts, at the time when it was led by Živojin Zdravković.
The downfall of the orchestra occurred in 1990. Due to the civil wars in Yugoslavia the Belgrade Philharmonic was banned to play internationally for some time. As a consequence many musicians left the orchestra. Without funding, the orchestra rarely played. However as the political situation in Serbia changed and the country welcomed back into the international community so was the orchestra.
After 2000 the orchestra was completely revived. It first toured Slovenia, Austria, Italy and Sweden. Young musicians, educated outside of Serbia in specialist musician centres arrived in at Belgrade Philharmonic creating a new image of the Orchestra, with an average age of just 28.
In 2004 the performance hall in Belgrade was completely rebuilt and modernise to facilitate the new needs of the orchestra. The hall has a total of 201 seats. Most of the concerts, by tradition, take place in the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment's Hall, while the central Hall is used for special events. The Belgrade Philharmonic Foundation was set up in 2004 to improve the financial situation within the orchestra through sponsorships and cooperation. The foundation was successes and the whole orchestra renewed their instruments in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
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