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Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

One of Europe's foremost and most versatile orchestras

The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is an established and leading force in the music world, with a broad repertoire and innovative collaborations. Having flourished under the leadership of Daniel Harding, the orchestra now looks ahead to a new chapter with Andrés Orozco-Estrada as Musical Director and Maxim Emelyanychev as Principal Guest Conductor.

Known as the Radio Symphonics in everyday speech, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra has left a major mark on the music world. Its repertoire includes both the great classical works and exciting new music, and in collaborations with many of the world's leading composers, conductors and soloists there is a constant striving to break new ground. The orchestra has received countless prizes and awards, their tours have been celebrated both in Europe and globally, and they can also boast an extensive and critically acclaimed catalog of records.

A new Music director and Principal Guest Conductor

Starting with the 2026/2027 season, Andrés Orozco-Estrada assumes the role of Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He succeeds Daniel Harding, who held the position for nearly 20 years.

During the 2025/2026 season, the orchestra welcomed Maxim Emelyanychev as Principal Guest Conductor. He continues in this role, and will lead a number of concerts throughout the 2026/2027 season. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra will also be joined by a host of other internationally renowned conductors, including George Benjamin, Marta Gardolińska, Thomas Adès, Kazuki Yamada, Eva Ollikainen and Anja Bilhmaier. Now honorary conductor Daniel Harding will also take the helm during the season.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, with Aleksei Kiseliov as soloist on cello. Photo: Arne Hyckenberg
Orkester och publik syns genom titthålet i dörren bakom scenen
View of Maxim Emelyanychev and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra through the peephole backstage.
Photo: Mattias Ahlm/Sveriges Radio
  • Orchestra members

    Just over a hundred instrumentalists make up the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. You can find them here.

    Members of the Orchestra
  • Andrés Orozco-Estrada

    In autumn 2026, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra will begin a new era with Andrés Orozco-Estrada as its Music Director. With roots in Colombia, education in Vienna, and extensive experience from some of the world’s leading orchestras, he brings musical brilliance, warmth, and a strong desire to make music accessible to more people.

    Read more
  • Fanny Robilliard to be the new 1st Concertmaster of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

    Fanny Robilliard joins the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra as 1st Concertmaster, alongside Malin Broman.

    Read more
  • Listen to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

    You can often hear the orchestra play on Swedish Radio P2 and in the Sveriges Radio Play app. Below is a curated playlist from the record catalog. ↓

    To the playlist

The orchestra has an incredible humility towards the music and a wonderful sense of musical imagination and inventiveness.

Daniel Harding

All of Sweden’s symphony orchestra

From its home stage in Berwaldhallen, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra reaches the entire country via Swedish Radio P2. Many concerts can also be seen on Berwaldhallen Play, SVT and SVT Play, and internationally the concerts are broadcast through the EBU, which means that the orchestra’s music reaches a global audience. In this way, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is the orchestra of all of Sweden.

Ahead of the orchestra’s guest appearance at the BBC Proms 2014, chief conductor Daniel Harding was asked why they stand out from the crowd: “The orchestra has an incredible humility towards the music and a wonderful sense of musical imagination and inventiveness,” he said. The orchestra has been recognized several times for the musicians’ rare feeling and sensitivity. With the orchestra members’ distinct interaction and musical inventiveness, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra will continue to be at the musical forefront on the world’s great stages.

Music directors and Conductor Laureates

Music director:

Andrés Orozco-Estrada 2026-

Daniel Harding 2007-2025

Manfred Honeck 2000-2006

Jevgenij Svetlanov 1996-1999

Esa-Pekka Salonen 1984-1995

Herbert Blomstedt 1977-1982

Sergiu Celibidache 1965-1971

 

Conductor Laureates:

Daniel Harding

Esa-Pekka Salonen

Herbert Blomstedt

Carlo Maria Giuliniu

A note on the orchestra's name and history

Orchestral music has existed in Swedish Radio since the very first day of broadcasting in January 1925. The radio orchestra has changed its name and form several times during its lifetime. In 1965, the then Radio Orchestra merged with Radio service's TV Orchestra to form a symphony orchestra with over 100 members under the Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache. In March 1967, the orchestra finally received the name it still bears today: Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester (Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra).

  • Maxim Emelyanchev - principal guest conductor

    Maxim Emelyanychev has been the Chief Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since 2019 and the Chief Conductor of the baroque orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro since 2013. In the 2025/2026 season he will also take on the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

  • Work in Berwaldhallen

    Do you dream of playing in the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, singing in the Radio Choir, becoming part of our marketing team, providing excellent service to concertgoers or working with the Berwaldhallen administration?

  • Orchestra biography

    Read the biography of the Radio Symphony Orchestra. More material is also available in the Berwaldhallen press room (scroll down for link).

    • Follow the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

      Follow the orchestra and their work! The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra can be found both on Facebook and Instagram under @swedishradiosymphony

      The orchestra on Facebook
    • Listen to musical highlights with our beloved ensembles

      On this page, we’ve gathered selected concerts featuring the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir.

      Read more

    Press

    Karl Thorson, press and PR Berwaldhallen
    Telephone: +46 70 431 18 93

    Email: karl.thorson@sverigesradio.se 

    Press releases and press photos from concerts are available in the Berwaldhallen press room.

    Upcoming concerts with the orchestra

    • Few seats remaining
      6–7 November
      170 - 560 kr

      Verdi’s Requiem

      One of the most magnificent and moving works in music history fills Berwaldhallen as Roberto González-Monjas conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra,...
    • Few seats remaining
      8 November
      150 kr

      Anniversary concert — Ten years of musical meetings between Orkesterskolan and Berwaldhallen

      For ten years, Orkesterskolan, part of Kulturskolan Stockholm, and Berwaldhallen have been creating musical encounters for children and young people. Here, young...
    • 12–13 November
      130 - 475 kr

      Music from Vienna — with Harding & Piemontesi

      Vienna's rich musical tradition takes center stage when Daniel Harding conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program where the elegance...
    • 18–19 November
      100 - 420 kr

      Elgar’s Enigma Variations

      British conductor Adam Hickox makes his debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Edward Elgar’s beloved Enigma Variations, where both friendship and enigma are woven together into one of orchestra music’s most iconic works.
    • No tickets left
      26 – 28 November
      170 - 560 kr

      Bowie in Berlin

      Conductor and arranger Hans Ek returns together with singers Magnus Carlson, Moto Boy and Jennie Abrahamson to David Bowie’s iconic Berlin Trilogy. Drawing on the albums Low, Heroes and Lodger, they create a hauntingly evocative exploration of one of the most influential periods in pop history.
    • 4–5 December
      130 - 475 kr

      The Fountains of Rome and Tchaikovsky’s 'Polish' Symphony — Kavakos in Szymanowskis violin concerto

      Kazuki Yamada conducts a concert where Rome's fountains sparkle and shimmer in Ottorino Respighi's masterful tone paintings, and Leonidas Kavakos brings new life to Karol Szymanowski's second Violin Concerto. Piotr Tchaikovsky's energetic third symphony
    • 10–11 December
      130 - 475 kr

      Bruckner's fifth according to Stutzmann

      One of the true colossuses of symphonic literature is given new life when Nathalie Stutzmann takes to the Berwaldhallen podium to lead the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra through Anton Bruckner's monumental Symphony No. 5.
    • 8-9 January
      170 - 560 kr

      Epiphany Concert 2027

      Celebrate the new year with a sparkling Epiphany Concert! Robert Fux hosts an evening of classical favourites and musical surprises.
    • 15–16 januari
      130 - 475 kr

      Malin Byström sings Strauss

      This season's Artist in Residence, Malin Byström, is the soloist when the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Philippe Jordan invite you to an evening in the grand romantic format.
    • 21–22 January
      130 - 475 kr

      Emotion and enchantment — with Gilbert & Broman

      The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conjures a surge of emotions and the power of the fairy tale under the steady hand of...
    • 27–28 January
      100 - 420 kr

      Mendelssohns's Italian symphony with Emelyanychev

      Principal guest conductor Maxim Emelyanychev leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn's sunny fourth symphony "The Italian".
    • 30 January
      180 kr

      Niklas & Radioapan– The Superheroes of Berwaldhallen

      Join Niklas, Radioapan and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on a musical adventure to stop the mischievous sound villain Dissonans!