Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle (Yleisradio). It was founded in 1927 by ten musicians as a radio orchestra and expanded into a symphony orchestra in the 1960s. Its Chief Conductors since then have been Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu, and since autumn 2021 Nicholas Collon.

In addition to the great classical-romantic masterpieces, contemporary music is also an important part of the FRSO’s repertoire, which premieres a number of Yle commissioned compositions every year. The orchestra is also responsible for recording all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. Furthermore, it has recorded works by Gustav Mahler, Béla Bartók, Jean Sibelius, Kimmo Hakola, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Aulis Sallinen, Jouni Kaipainen, Joonas Kokkonen and others.

In 2016 and 2019, the FRSO received the Finnish EMMA Award. Other awards include the BBC Music Magazine Prize, the Académie Charles Cros Prize, the MIDEM Classical Award and Grammy nominations in 2020 and 2021. Its recording »Jean Sibelius: Tapiola – En Saga – 8 Songs« was honoured with the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2018. It has won the Gramophone Classical Music Award three times: in 2006 for Magnus Lindberg’s Clarinet Concerto, in 2018 for Béla Bartók’s Violin Concertos and in 2023 for the album »Sigla. Flounce. Sedecim« with orchestral works by Lotta Wennäkoski and in 2023 it was nominated for the Gramophone Award as »Orchestra of the Year«.