Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra
The Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (German: Nürnberger Symphoniker) is a German orchestra based in Nuremberg. Its principal concert venue is the Meistersingerhalle. The orchestra's current "Intendant" (managing and artistic director) is Lucius A. Hemmer, since September 2003. History. The orchestra began in 1946 as the Franconia State Orchestra ("Fränkisches Landesorchester"), with Erich Kloss as its first chief conductor. In the early 1950s, the orchestra accrued international acclaim for their recordings of the sound tracks to Quo Vadis and Ben Hur by Miklós Rózsa. The orchestra took its current name in 1963 for the dedication of the newly  built "Meistersingerhalle". In 1993, the orchestra won a Grammy Award in the category "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" for the soundtrack of "Beauty and the Beast". Since 2008, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra has a new rehearsal and concert hall with a seating capacity of 515, the "Neuer Musiksaal". During the summer, it also presents an open-air concert series in the "Serenadenhof", the southern courtyard of the Congress Hall. After serving as festival orchestra of the Heidenheim Opera Festival for 25 years, the Nuremberg Symphony took over the same position at Frankonian Summer Festival in 2013. The orchestra has recorded both  for the Bavarian radio (Bayerischer Rundfunk) and for commercial CD labels. Every summer, the orchestra participates in Europe's largest open air classical music event, "Klassik Open Air". The orchestra's current chief conductor is Kahchun Wong, as of the 2018–2019 season. In October 2021, the orchestra announced that Wong is scheduled to stand down as its chief conductor in August 2022.