Classical Music Groups in Stuttgart

Stuttgart has a rich musi­cal land­scape and boasts sev­er­al well-respect­ed orches­tras. There are numer­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties to attend con­certs and oth­er clas­si­cal music per­for­mances both in and around Stuttgart all year round. Allow us to intro­duce you to sev­en groups that play clas­si­cal music—presented in alpha­bet­i­cal order because we won’t play favorites!

Gaechinger Cantorey, Bachakademie Stuttgart

The Inter­na­tionale Bachakademie Stuttgart, found­ed in 1981 by Hel­muth Rilling, is devot­ed to the music of Johann Sebas­t­ian Bach. The Bach Acad­e­my orga­nizes con­certs, play a lead­ing role in the Musik­fest Stuttgart, and offers a music edu­ca­tion out­reach program.

The Gaechinger Can­torey is the Bachakademie’s ensem­ble. It was formed in 2016 by con­duc­tor Hans-Christoph Rade­mann by com­bin­ing the for­mer ensem­bles of the Gächinger Kan­tor­ei (choir) and Bach-Col­legium Stuttgart (orches­tra). The ensem­ble has its own sub­scrip­tion con­cert series in Stuttgart and Lud­wigs­burg but also fol­lows a busy con­cert sched­ule with both domes­tic and inter­na­tion­al performances.

Their web­site includes infor­ma­tion about the ensem­ble and its mem­bers, con­cert tick­ets and sub­scrip­tions, edu­ca­tion­al out­reach, and even full record­ings of per­for­mances in video in the Mediathek.

Landesjugendorchester Baden-Württemberg

The State Youth Orches­tra of Baden-Würt­tem­berg has been gath­er­ing the state’s best young tal­ents togeth­er since 1972. Twice a year, musi­cians from ages 13 to 20 audi­tion, rehearse, and per­form sym­phon­ic orches­tral music on stage. Many for­mer mem­bers of the youth orches­tra have gone on to play pro­fes­sion­al­ly in orches­tras or teach as pro­fes­sors in music academies.

Their web­site offers infor­ma­tion about the orchestra’s back­ground, upcom­ing con­certs, and how to audition.

Staatsorchester Stuttgart

The Stuttgart State Orches­tra is one of the old­est the­ater orches­tras in the world: it cel­e­brat­ed its 425th anniver­sary in 2018. Every sea­son the musi­cians play for more than 230 opera and bal­let per­for­mances in the Littmannbau, in addi­tion to more than 30 sym­pho­ny and cham­ber con­certs in the Stuttgart Lieder­halle as well as con­certs for young children.

Their web­page presents infor­ma­tion about the his­to­ry of the orches­tra. The rest of the web­site con­cerns the Stuttgart Opera and includes a pro­gram and tick­et sales.

Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

The Stuttgart Cham­ber Orches­tra, found­ed in 1945 by Karl Münchinger, has devel­oped an unmis­tak­able sound which has inspired many oth­er ensem­bles found­ed since. The orches­tra has a wide reper­toire from Bach to Stravin­sky and offers sub­scrip­tion con­certs, spe­cial series, guest per­for­mances, and an edu­ca­tion pro­gram. They per­form both as “SKO pur”, with their reg­u­lar line-up of 17 string play­ers, as well as in a sym­phon­ic ensem­ble. They trav­el fre­quent­ly, mak­ing guest appear­ances on some of the most famous stages internationally.

Their web­site is avail­able in Eng­lish. There you can view the cur­rent offer­ings, pur­chase sin­gle tick­ets or sub­scrip­tions, and even make a request to book the orches­tra for your own event.

Stuttgarter Philharmoniker

The Stuttgart Phil­har­mon­ic was found­ed in 1924 and has been spon­sored by Stuttgart since 1976. While they per­form most reg­u­lar­ly at the Gus­tav-Siegle-Haus downtown, they also play in many cities in south­west Ger­many and give guest per­for­mances every year both domes­ti­cal­ly and internationally.

Vis­it their com­pre­hen­sive web­site to buy CDs, tick­ets, or sub­scrip­tions; see their cal­en­dar or cur­rent sea­son brochure; and view video inter­views and short performances.

Stuttgarter Saloniker

The Stuttgarter Saloniker was found­ed in 1989 by Patrick Siben, agri­cul­tur­al stu­dent turned band mas­ter and musi­cal direc­tor. He has suc­ceed­ed in devel­op­ing an impres­sive­ly flex­i­ble ensem­ble. Around 100 mem­bers per­form in var­i­ous line-ups of 3 to 16 musi­cians depend­ing on the musi­cal style and occa­sion. They play across a wide vari­ety of gen­res, includ­ing clas­si­cal, folk, jazz, rock, Latin, and pop music.

The home base of the Stuttgarter Saloniker is actu­al­ly in Mur­rhardt, about 40 km to the north­east. Vil­la Franck is a beau­ti­ful loca­tion that plays host to many con­certs as well as the Saloniker’s sea­son­al balls. For­tu­nate­ly the Saloniker also play at var­i­ous venues and music fes­ti­vals in and around the city of Stuttgart as well.

Their web­site shows upcom­ing per­for­mances, links to an online tick­et por­tal, pro­vides infor­ma­tion about var­i­ous for­ma­tions and book­ing options, and offers an exten­sive selec­tion of sam­ples from their CDs.

SWR Symphonieorchester

The SWR Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra was formed in 2016 with the merg­ing of the Stuttgart Radio Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra of the Süd­westrund­funk and the SWR Sym­pho­ny Orches­tra of Baden-Baden and Freiburg. They offer a con­cert series in Stuttgart, Freiburg, and Mannheim as well as appear­ing at var­i­ous music fes­ti­vals and for oth­er guest per­for­mances in var­i­ous Euro­pean cities and even once in China.

Their web­site includes infor­ma­tion about the orches­tra and its his­to­ry, their con­cert series and oth­er per­for­mances, and links to online performances.