The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), with a mission to promote Finnish musical culture. Founded in 1927 as an ensemble of ten players, it grew to symphony orchestra strength in the 1960s. Its current chief conductor is Hannu Lintu, whose illustrious predecessors include Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo.
Contemporary music forms a major part of the repertoire of the orchestra, which each year premières a number of commissions. Another of its missions is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. The FRSO regularly tours internationally, and have in recent years performed at venues such as Vienna Musikverein, Concertgebouw, Zürich Tonhalle and the Barbican Centre in London. The orchestra’s rich and varied discography has met with critical acclaim internationally, and all its concerts are broadcast, usually live, on Yle Radio 1. They can also be heard and watched on the
FRSO website.
