Recreation - Das Orchester
Recreation is special in many ways: consisting of musicians whose nationalities range from Japan to Venezuela, most of the members received part of their training in Graz. After its formation in 2002, the collective played unique halls such as the Alte Oper Frankfurt and worked with outstanding conductors.
About the orchestra
Orchestra at the House of Styriarte
Beginning
Recreation was formed for a first concert season in 2002 from musicians, who had previously earned their artistic laurels in the ranks of the Graz Symphony Orchestra. In addition to its concert cycles in Graz, the orchestra has also performed at the Styriarte, in Vienna's Musikvereinssaal, at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, at steirischer herbst, at the Jazzsommer Graz and many more.
Members
Most of the members of the orchestra have one thing in common: they received at least a part of their education at the Graz University of Music or teach there themselves, at the Styrian State Conservatory or at other Styrian music schools. Their nationalities also make the collective of orchestra musicians something special: They come from half of Europe (Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, etc.) and thus represent a small-scale image of this Southeast European region of the future. The Graz University of Music constantly attracts young talents for training. They often take the opportunity to demonstrate their skills as guest musicians in the Recreation Orchestra. With these young artists, the orchestra's changing nationality panorama expands to Japan, Spain or the Ukraine, but also to Cuba, Venezuela and New Zealand.
Conductors
Recreation can refer to its collaboration with outstanding conductors such as Andrés Orozco-Estrada (principal conductor from 05 to 09) and Jordi Savall. From 2012 to 2017, the renowned Munich maestro Michael Hofstetter shaped the orchestra as principal conductor. Female conductors have been the norm for Recreation for a long time. For example, the 2021/22 season will see the appointment of Mei-Ann Chen, a Taiwanese-American, as principal conductor.
Early Music
Recreation - Das Orchester has also worked on programmes with many important early music performers. Together with the former principal conductor Michael Hofstetter, himself a proven specialist in original sound, an extra formation from the orchestra concentrated on gut strings and old tuning for historical performance practice. The orchestra made its debut at the renowned Styriarte Festival, and concert tours to Versailles and Lyon, to the Schubertiade in Hohenems and to the international Gluck Opera Festival in Nuremberg followed.
Sponsorship
Since 2020, Steiermärkische Sparkasse has been the main sponsor of the orchestra Recreation.
