Musicians of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz

The court music ensemble in Mainz was founded during the reign of Albert of Brandenburg (1514-1545). The Mainz Court music ensemble established itself in the 17th century as one of the leading bands at German courts, via the accompanying of imperial coronations. The first verifiable appointment of a court conductor was Jan le Febure (1601—1612).

In the 18th century, Elector E. J. von Breidbach allowed musicians to participate in public concerts and opera performances. This reinforces the outstanding reputation of the now enlarged ensemble. The first theater building in Mainz was completed in 1760: opera operations began in the wooden theater on Ballplatz. With the end of the Electorate and the constantly changing rulership, difficult times also began for the musicians.

In 1804 the “United Music Friends” society was founded to organize regular concerts. In 1814 opera activity was resumed under the name “The New Mainz National Theater”. The orchestra consisted of 28 musicians. Remarkably at the beginning of the 20th century operas by R. Strauss were performed in Mainz shortly after their premieres. The first performance of the opera “The Cunning Little Vixen” by Leoš Janáček outside the Czech Republic also took place in the Mainz theater.

In 1904 G. Mahler conducted his 4th Symphony in Mainz. In the years that followed, conductors such as Strauss, Knappertsbusch and Pfitzner took the orchestra's podium. In 1990 the Staatstheater Mainz GmbH was founded. With 81 positions the now “Philharmonic Orchestra of the Mainz State Theater” experienced a period of prosperity. In 2006 the orchestra was separated from Theater GmbH and became the “Philharmonic State Orchestra Mainz”, continuing to play in the theater.

In the 2023/24 season features concerts on the topic of climate and environmental protection within the concerts for young people and children's concerts as a collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Nature Conservation Association (NaBu). The orchestra's sponsored children, the "Beethoven Babies", will be playfully introduced to nature at this year's "Thumbelina's Journey" concert. The orchestra's musicians joined the Sustainability Group at the Mainz State Theater and the “Mainz in Transition” network and took part this year in the in CITY CYCLING city-wide event.