Stuttgarter Kammerorchester

Since its foundation in 1945 by Karl Münchinger, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester (SKO) has developed its own unmistakable sound and thus become a foundation model for many other ensembles. Under Dennis Russell Davies, the SKO's honorary conductor, the orchestra also purposefully expanded its range to include contemporary music. His successor, Michael Hofstetter, strengthened the orchestra’s expertise in the field of historical performance practice.

Founded in 1945, the SKO sees itself as a cultural institution with a dual role. The vision of the musicians and their two artistic leaders – Principal Conductor Thomas Zehetmair and Markus Korselt as Managing Director – is to preserve tradition while also setting standards for the future in terms of sound and programming. The tension between these two poles is where the SKO draws its creative energy. The rich repertoire spanning the centuries, from Baroque to composition commissions, also includes bold genre crossovers with jazz and electronic music in exciting formats and projects close to the audience. This range makes it one of the most accomplished ensembles in the world of music.

The programme encompasses about 90 concerts each year, including up to two intercontinental tours and performances on the major stages. The orchestra presents itself both as “pure SKO” in its regular line-up of 17 strings as well as a larger ensemble for masterworks from the Classical and Romantic periods. From 2024 to 2027, the SKO is going to record and perform all Beethoven symphonies with Thomas Zehetmair.

The Stuttgarter Kammerorchester is constantly discovering new creative fields in the ever-changing area of digitisation. Since 2018, innovative projects featuring virtual and augmented reality, AI, robotics and hologram concerts have been created which broaden the classical foundation of the orchestra and offer the audience new artistic experiences. In 2022, the SKO became the first orchestra in Germany to switch from paper sheet music to tablets.

Motivated by the desire to be more sustainable, the SKO has been committed to a climate-conscious cultural sector since 2022. This included, till 2024, the orchestra’s climate neutrality by avoiding, reducing and offsetting CO2 emissions. From 2025, the focus will be on a further reduction of CO2 emissions and regional reforestation projects. This includes working as resource-efficiently as possible, avoiding or decreasing CO2 emissions wherever possible and encouraging the audience to act climate-consciously.

With its award-winning education program “SKOhr-Labor” for children and young people of all backgrounds, the SKO makes a vital contribution to the musical culture of future generations.

In 2023, the SKO founded its own label “SKO records”, since releasing four albums with music by Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schönberg, Schubert, Bartók and John Adams.

The Stuttgarter Kammerorchester is funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg, the city of Stuttgart and Robert Bosch GmbH, as well as numerous project sponsors, patrons and donors.