Musicians of the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen

Founded by the citizens of Reutlingen after the Second World War, today's Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen (WPR) has been a professional orchestra since 1945. It has long since developed into an internationally-acclaimed symphony orchestra whose members represent around 15 different nationalities. Performing well over a hundred concerts per year, the WPR serves as ambassador for the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. In August 2022, the German Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth announced that the WPR was one of the ensembles to be funded by the German Government for its innovative ideas as part of the "Germany's Orchestra Landscape Excellence" programme.

The WPR outlook is two-sided: regional anchoring, on the one hand and openness to the world and diversity, on the other — both key features of this ensemble. At the same time, it has a deep impact on society in its home region by explicitly addressing different audiences — and consistently reaching new ones — with its vibrant and imaginative programming, not to mention its innovative spirit. This is driven by the orchestra's awareness of how relevant culture is for society as well as by its strong commitment to the city of Reutlingen and the state of Baden-Württemberg. During its guest appearances on the international stage, the WPR officially represented the cultural life of its Land during a tour of Japan in 2006. But on all its other tours and in guest concerts too, whether at the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin and Cologne Philharmonic Halls, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Dortmund Concert Hall, the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre or the Zurich Tonhalle, whether in festival halls such as Salzburg and Baden-Baden or at festivals like Ravello, Warsaw (Beethoven Festival), Dobbiaco (Gustav Mahler Music Weeks) or Besançon (Festival international de musique), the WPR sees itself as an ambassador.

The WPR performs with artists such as Lang Lang or Thomas Hampson, Sabine Meyer and Frank Peter Zimmermann, Christoph Poppen and Fazil Say as well as with musicians from other genres and musical styles. Since it established its own kaleidoscope series in Reutlingen, which has been popular for decades and is dedicated to programmes beyond the classical-romantic orchestra literature, it has been regularly invited to perform with artists from different genres such as jazz (James Morrison, Till Brönner, Klaus Doldinger, Ute Lemper or China Moses), world music (Natasha Atlas, Yasmin Levy, Burhan Öcal) or musical, Latin, hip hop, chanson (Dominique Horwitz) or pop (Max Mutzke). During special FOKUS events, the orchestra devoted itself to the music of Turkey (2013) and of the Jewish Diaspora (2016).

The WPR is intensely committed to its future audiences and reaches more than 8,000 young listeners by giving over twenty-five children and family concerts in Reutlingen every year. The orchestra was awarded the “Innovative Orchestra 2019” prize by the Deutsche Orchester-Stiftung for its interactive live streaming format NETZ-WERK-ORCHESTER (today: "The Orchestra Quiz") which makes it able to reach rural audiences. This was followed in 2023 by the "German Prize for Online Communication" in the "Digital Event" category for the same project.

First offered in 2009, the "Federal Prize for Cultural Education" was awarded to the WPR for its project featuring artists with disabilities. In 2014, the ensemble was again nominated for this award for a large-scale musical theatre project brought to the stage with a performing and composing cast of 250 children at the 62nd German Mozart Festival (2013). In 2015, the WPR established a concert series for people with dementia in cooperation with the Alzheimer Society. In 2016 and 2017, this was followed by FUGATO, an intercultural project involving refugees, which was extended till 2018 due to popular demand.

The WPR’s artistic work has been documented by a variety of CD and radio productions, among them several world première recordings. Since the beginning of the 2022/2023 season, the WPR has been led by French principal conductor Ariane Matiakh.

The musicians of the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen are excited to be a part of Orchester des Wandels. We want to use the emotional power and reach of our concerts to bring the pressing issues of climate change to the center of social attention. We see the sustainability of a classical symphony orchestra as exemplary for the conservative use of resources and a forward-thinking realisation of culture.