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"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the music the words make." - Truman Capote

The Philharmonia was founded in 1945 by EMI producer Walter Legge, and has worked with a who’s who of 20th- and 21st-century musicians. Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali took up the baton as Principal Conductor in September 2021. The sixth person to hold the title, he is known for his expressive, balletic conducting style and irrepressible energy.
Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini, Riccardo Muti and Esa-Pekka Salonen are just a few of the great artists to be associated with the Philharmonia, and the Orchestra has premiered works by Richard Strauss, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Errollyn Wallen, Kaija Saariaho and many others.
Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, in the heart of London, has been the Philharmonia’s home since 1995.
The Orchestra also has residencies at venues and festivals across England, each embracing a Learning & Engagement programme that empowers people to engage with, and participate in, orchestral music.
The Philharmonia’s international reputation is built in part on its extraordinary 79-year recording legacy, which in the last ten years has been built on by pioneering work with digital technology. The Orchestra’s installations and VR experiences have introduced hundreds of thousands of people to the symphony orchestra. The Philharmonia has won four Royal Philharmonic Society awards for its digital projects and audience engagement work. The Philharmonia is the go-to orchestra for many film and videogame composers in the UK and Hollywood, and its music-making has been experienced by millions of cinema- goers and gamers. It has recorded over 150 soundtracks, with film credits stretching back to 1947. Since 2023, the Orchestra has released live recordings on its own label, Philharmonia Records, in collaboration with Signum Records.
The Philharmonia has over 2m listeners each month on Spotify, and a vibrant YouTube channel with over 140,000 subscribers. The channel features free performances; instrument guides; interviews with artists; and in-depth documentaries.
The Philharmonia is an official partner of Classic FM and broadcasts extensively on BBC Radio 3.
The Philharmonia is a registered charity, proud to be supported by Arts Council England, many generous individuals, corporate supporters and Trusts and Foundations.
A team of 80 outstanding musicians from 16 countries, the Philharmonia looks forward to bringing music into your life, through great concerts, recordings and ground-breaking projects, for many years to come.

Featured on

Dmitri Shostakovich
Santtu conducts Shostakovich Symphonies 6 & 9
Philharmonia Orchestra
Rebecca Dale
Night Seasons
Rebecca Dale
Clara Schumann, Edvard Grieg
Clara Schumann and Edvard Grieg Piano Concertos
Alexandra Dariescu
Igor Stravinsky
Santtu Conducts Stravinsky Petrushka (complete ballet, 1947 version), The Firebird Suite
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Mahler
Mahler Symphony No. 2 in C Minor
Philharmonia Orchestra
Richard Strauss
Santtu Conducts Strauss - Don Juan, Eine Alpensinfonie, Also Sprach Zarathustra & Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
Philharmonia Orchestra
Ottorino Respighi
Ballad of the Gnomes
Philharmonia Orchestra | Geoffrey Simon
Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Concerto, Romances
Charlie Siem
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Edvard Grieg
Tedd Joselson's Companionship of Concertos: Grieg: Piano Concerto – Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Tedd Joselson
Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No. 5
Philharmonia Orchestra
Alexander Borodin
Borodin Requiem, Polovtsian Dances and Suite from Prince Igor
Geoffrey Simon
Modest Mussorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition (Piano Concerto Version) and Pictures from the Crimea
Geoffrey Simon
Claude Debussy
Debussy - Engulfed Cathedral
Geoffrey Simon
Claude Debussy
Evening in Granada
Geoffrey Simon
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Phibbs
Phibbs and Mozart: Clarinet Concertos
Mark van de Wiel
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphonic Dances, Symphony No. 3
Philharmonia Orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn
Piano Concerto No. 4, Double Concerto
Min-Jung Kym
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphony No. 2, Live in Concert
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphony No. 1, Live in Concert
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Mahler
Complete Symphonies Nos. 1-9
Philharmonia Orchestra
Carl Nielsen
Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto, Aladdin Suite
Philharmonia Orchestra
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 9, Live at the Salzburg Festival
Philharmonia Orchestra
Franz Schubert
Schubert Symphony No. 9
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Mahler
Symphonies Nos.4-6
Philharmonia Orchestra / Sarah Fox / Lorin Maazel
Béla Bartók
Duke Bluebeard's castle
Esa-Pekka Salonen / Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Holst, Joby Talbot
Universe of Sound - The Planets (Blu-ray)
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Holst, Joby Talbot
Holst: The Planets
The Philharmonia Orchestra / Salonen, Esa-Pekka
Robert Schumann
Cello Cto Op.129 / Cello Cto Op.104, Silent Woods
Jamie Walton / Philharmonia Orchestra / Ashkenazy
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No.4 'Romantic'
Philharmonia Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No.6
Philharmonia Orchestra
Johannes Brahms
Brahms: Sy No.1 & Sy No.3
Philharmonia Orch. / Von Dohnanyi
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No.4
Sarah Fox
Hector Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique
Philharmonia Orchestra
Edward Elgar
Elgar: Symphony No.1 & 2
Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir Andrew
Arnold Schönberg
Gurrelieder
Various Artists
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 3 'Eroica', Symphony No. 5
Philharmonia Orchestra
Edward Elgar
Elgar: Enigma Variations, In the South, Serenade
The Philharmonia Orchestra / SIr An
Richard Strauss
Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche
Philharmonia Orchestra
Benjamin Britten, Dmitri Shostakovich
Cello Concerto No. 2
Jamie Walton
Dmitri Shostakovich
Festive Overture, Symphony No.5
The Philharmonia Orchestra
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No.2 & No.4
Philharmonia Orchestra
Edward Elgar, Nikolai Myaskovsky
Cello Concertos
Jamie Walton