Skip to content

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

One of Europe's foremost and most diverse orchestras

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. The orchestra has flourished under the leadership of Daniel Harding, and with Maxim Emelyanychev as its new principal guest conductor, the orchestra looks forward to a continued bright future.

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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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 Salonenu

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.

    Read more
  • 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?

    Vacancies
  • Orchestra biography

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

    Read more
    • 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 @sverigesradiossymfoniorkester.

      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

    • No tickets left
      27 August
      275 kr

      Berwald’s septet and Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings

      Musicians from the Czech Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra meet in the Queen Silvia Concert Hall to perform chamber music by Franz Berwald and Antonín Dvořák.
      Read more
    • No tickets left
      29 August
      350 - 650 kr

      Fate & guilt

      The Baltic Sea Festival’s grand finale invites you to an evening of drama and rich sonorities. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra together with soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou, baritone Peter Mattei, and saxophonist Asya Fateyeva. A closing night where contemporary sound meets Nordic legend in a powerful musical encounter.
      Read more
    • 3–4 September
      170 - 560 kr

      Sea Music and Symphonic Dances

      The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and legendary soprano Nina Stemme invite you on a musical journey across stormy seas, through sparkling night landscapes and symphonic dances.
      Read more & tickets
    • 9–10 September
      100 - 420 kr

      Dark tales and dances

      Step into a world of dark tales, mystery and dancing rhythms as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and viola soloist, also this season's P2 Classical Artist, Ami-Louise Johnsson are led by Taiwanese conductor Yi-Chen Lin.
      Read more & tickets
    • 12 sep
      180 kr

      Niklas & Radioapan – The Magical Time Machine

      Join Niklas and Radioapan on a fast-paced journey through time! Together with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jonas Nydesjö, they...
      Read more & tickets
    • 17–18 September
      130 - 475 kr

      Lessons in love

      When three of the most distinctive musical voices of our time – conductor and composer George Benjamin, pianist Bertrand Chamayou and soprano Barbara Hannigan – come together, a program full of intensity, imagination and refined drama emerges.
      Read more & tickets
    • 25–26 September
      130 - 475 kr

      Hardenberger in Tanaka’s trumpet concerto

      A concert filled with brilliant virtuosity and symphonic splendor awaits as Emilia Hoving leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a program that ranges from raw folk pulse to orchestral grandeur.
      Read more & tickets
    • Few seats remaining
      1-3 okt
      130 - 475 kr

      Love of my life – Nils Landgren & friends

      Jazz legend Nils Landgren joins musicians and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra at Berwaldhallen for an evening featuring music from the album...
      Read more & tickets
    • 7–8 October
      100 - 420 kr

      From cello glow to Slavonic dances

      Marta Gardolińska leads the Swedish world-renowned cellist Jakob Koranyi and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Camille Saint-Saëns' beloved first cello concerto – a work that combines virtuoso elegance and dramatic heat.
      Read more & tickets
    • 15–16 October
      130 - 475 kr

      Mozart, Liszt & Dante’s Inferno

      When Thomas Adès conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, a concert awaits where the large-scale visions of romanticism meet the glow of...
      Read more & tickets
    • 21 October
      100 - 420 kr

      Discover fin-de-siècle ballet

      Through the turn of the century ballet music, a world of rhythms, colours and modernist imagination opens, as Anton Holmer makes his debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Gregor Zubicky guides you through the music created for the iconic Swedish Ballet and Ballets Russes in Paris.
      Read more & tickets
    • 22 October
      100 - 420 kr

      Ballet at the turn-of-the-century

      When the turn of the century dance scene underwent major changes, a new world of sounds, colours and rhythmic imagination opened. Under the direction of Anton Holmer, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra takes you through a time when ballet moved from playful folk to modernist elegance.
      Read more & tickets