Almost a century of artistic activity – 95 years – means the history of the National Radio Orchestra, an ensemble that has marked the evolution of symphonic music performance and broadcasting in Romania. In 1928, with the launch of the public radio station, the Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded – on the initiative and under the direction of composer Mihail Jora. Over the years, the ensemble has been conducted by great Romanian conductors such as Ionel Perlea, Alfred Alessandrescu, Theodor Rogalski, Constantin Silvestri, Iosif Conta, Emanuel Elenescu, Horia Andreescu and Tiberiu Soare, as well as prestigious guests such as George Enescu, Sergiu Comissiona, Ion Baciu, Cristian Mandeal, Christian Badea. 

In the last decades, the National Radio Orchestra has featured great names of the Romanian school of music, as well as prestigious guests from the international concert world. Among them we mention: conductors Carlo Zecchi, Igor Markevitch, Ion Marin, Michel Plasson, Maxim Shostakovich, Neil Thomson, Julien Salemkour and famous vocal soloists such as Montserrat Caballé, Eliane Coelho, Ileana Cotrubaș, Ruxandra Donose, Angela Gheorghiu, Elena Moșuc, Teodora Gheorghiu, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti. Great pianists such as Radu Lupu, Marta Argerich, Valentin Gheorghiu, Dan Grigore, Sviatoslav Richter, Mihaela Ursuleasa, Horia Mihail, violinist Yehudi Menuhin were also applauded alongside the National Radio Orchestra, Isaac Stern, David Oistrah, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Alexandru Tomescu, Gabriel Croitoru, Liviu Prunaru, Sarah Nemțanu and cellists – Natalia Gutman, Mstislav Rostropovici, Franz Helmerson, Alexandr Rudin.

The ensemble’s repertoire is very vast and diverse, with concerts featuring representative musical genres of all eras, from Baroque music to contemporary works. More than any other symphonic ensemble, the National Radio Orchestra undertakes the mission of disseminating national music. The orchestra is the ensemble with the highest number of premieres of Romanian composers, promoting their creations in the concert hall, on the airwaves, through special recordings for disc and the Golden Record Library, some of which have been taken over by the European Radio Union.  

The National Radio Orchestra has also made a name for itself abroad through tours to France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Japan, China – and through participation in international festivals, events that have confirmed its prestige everywhere. The production of this elite orchestra, which is on a par with the most important orchestral ensembles belonging to European broadcasters, has been honoured with important national and international awards for its recordings: Charles Cros – France; Puerta del Sol – Uruguay, Koussevitzky – USA. 

Among the important events that have brought the National Radio Orchestra to the forefront of Romanian cultural life in recent seasons are: the participation in the “George Enescu” International Festival, in the two editions of the “RadiRo” Festival –  an international event dedicated to radio orchestras and organized by Radio Romania – the extraordinary concerts dedicated to the Royalty Day in Romania and those performed with prestigious international artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Angela Gheorghiu, José Carreras, Richard Galliano, Viorica Cortez, Leontina Văduva, Ruxandra Donose, Elena Moșuc, Teodora Gheorghiu, Roxana Constantinescu etc. 

International tours at the Shanghai World Expo or Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, Varna Summer Fest or Balchik Classic Days Festival, as well as the most recent tour of the ensemble in September 2014 in the capital of Malaysia (invitation to the international event World Summit on Media for Children) all attest to the value of the National Radio Orchestra.