From the day of its first public appearance, the first of April 1956, the orchestra has firmly established itself as a primary force in Romanian musical life.
The Philharmonic Orchestra performes weekly, covering a wide variety of styles and periods of writing. Annually it promotes over 200 events and has seen year on year growth in audiences. In addition to the weekly concerts of the musical season, the Philharmonic organizes various international festivals like Enescu – The Moldovian Orpheus, The Contemporary Music Festival, The Laboratory for young composers, The Orchestra Conducting Courses, etc. Over the past 30 years the orchestra has constantly taken part in numerous international events, accompanying the semifinals and the finals in competitions for piano, violin, singing or wind instruments: Città di Cantù, Valsesia Music, Barletta, A.M.A. Calabria, Racconigi, Brescia in Italy, Floraisons Musicales, Aix-en-Provence in France, Madrid – Spain, the USA Altamura Music Festival on the Greene.
The orchestra performed, by invitation, in prestigious and important scenes of the world: Gasteig – München, Konzerthaus -Berlin, Gewandhaus – Leipzig, Mendelssohn Saal – Stuttgart, Tonhalle – Zürich, Verdi Hall – Milano, Argentino Theatre – Rome, La Fenice – Venice, Art Center Seoul, Art Center Shanghai, Beijing Hall.
Classical Artists such as Arta Florescu, Daniel Podlovschi, Aldo Ciccolini, Ștefan Ruha, Valentin Gheorghiu, Zenaida Pally, Francesco Mannara, Roberto Capello, Vincenzo Balzani, Leonel Morales, Angela Gheorghiu, Robert Gutter, Pietro Borgonovo, Akiko Meyers, Alexandru Tomescu, Tiberiu Soare ecc. are names which are all part of the Mihail Jora Orchestra’s performing elite.
World premieres of works by Romanian and International composers have included music by Liviu Dănceanu, Viorel Munteanu, Stefan Niculescu, Anatol Vieru, Tiberiu Olah, Aurel Stroe, Teresa Procaccini, Felicia Donceanu, Dan Dediu, Detlev Glanert, Adrian Iorgulescu
The principal conductor and honorary director of the orchestra, Ovidiu Bălan, comes from a generation of famous conductors whose value is globally acclaimed. He’s been part of “the family’’ for more than 50 years.
In 1991 the Philharmonic got the name of Mihail Jora, famous Romanian musician, composer and conductor.
