There are not many symphonic orchestras in the world to pride themselves on an intensive and long-standing tradition as the Slovenian Philharmonic orchestra can. The geographical significance of this country between the Alps and the Adriatic, at the crossing-point of Germanic, Romance and Slavic worlds, today European Union, permitted the musical art to follow the musical trends from North and South and from East and West.

The history of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and its predecessors Academia Philharmonicorum (1701), the Philharmonic Society (1794), and the first Slovenian Philharmonic (1908-1913) make it one of the oldest in the world. Among the many great names that became honorary members of the Slovenian Philharmonic we can find Josef Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Niccolò Paganini, Johannes Brahms, Carlos Kleiber and many others.

After its re-establishment in 1947 the orchestra was led by recognized conductors, among them by Bogo Leskovic, Samo Hubad, Lovro von Matačić, Oskar Danon, Uroš Lajovic, Milan Horvat, Marko Letonja, and George Pehlivanian. From October 2008 on, maestro Emmanuel Villaume  took over the artistic leadership of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Orchestra has re-affirmed its reputation on numerous tours to European cultural centres and in the United States of America and Japan, presenting itself also at many great International Festivals (Wiener Festwochen; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, The Prague Summer, The Warsaw Autumn, The Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Ravenna Festival…).

Its guest performers include top names in the world of performing artists. Conductors: Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Sanderling, Dmitri Kitajenko, Rudolf Barshai, Leopold Hager, Theodor Guschlbauer, Yuri Simonov, Jacek Kaspszyk, Serge Baudo, Hartmut Haenchen, Heinz Holliger, Alexander Vedernikov, Matthias Bamert, Kenneth Montgomery, Heinrich Schiff …, and the best native and foreign soloists, such as Irena Grafenauer, Marjana Lipovšek, Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak, Bernarda Fink, Igor Ozim, Arthur Rubinstein, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrach, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Svjatoslav Richter, Gidon Kremer, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Oleg Maisenberg, Eugen Indjic, Vadim Repin, Ivo Pogorelich, Lazar Berman, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Eva Johansson, Ramon Vargas, Gautier Capuçon, Schlomo Mintz, Heinz Holliger, Tasmin Little, Julian Rachlin, Sarah Chang, Till Fellner, Sharon Kam, Fazil Say, Mario Brunello, Zoltán Kocsis, Håkan Hardenberger, David Garrett, Kurt Rydl, Evelyn Glennie, Leonidas Kavakos, Alexander Rudin, Chuanyun Li…

Amongst the particularly precious events were the gala concert with Luciano Pavarotti, and the guest performance with Mstislav Rostropovich, held in Rome and Valencia. The concert conducted by maestro Carlos Kleiber in 1997 left an unforgettable sensation. On November 4th, 2004, the Memorial Concert was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, under the baton of his friend maestro Ricardo Muti who consequently invited the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra to repeat the concert at the Ravenna Festival in July 2005.

In 2006 the Orchestra achieved great success at the tour of Switzerland, and surpassed all expectations with its Maestro Pehlivanian on its first Japan tour ever. In 2007 they had concerts in Ludwigshaffen, Lugano, La Chaud-de-Fonds, and Dubrovnik, in 2008 they have performed in Budapest, Bratislava, MIDEM in Cannes, Sarajevo, Bruxelles, Graz, St. Pölten, Villach and Vienna.

For many seasons the Orchestra has been giving 36 subscription concerts in the Gallus Hall of the Cankar Cultural and Congress Centre (central national culture institution), as well as concerts on special occasions and musical matinees for young listeners. The concert activity of the Orchestra has more than 50 compact discs to its credit.

Updated on March 2010.  Any changes are prohibited without the permission of the Slovenian Philharmonic.