Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, comprising 97 musicians, is one of Scandinavia's foremost symphony orchestras. Chief conductor Matthew Halls started as the Artistic Director of the orchestra in autumn 2023.

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra performs at Tampere Hall, the largest concert hall in Finland. The orchestra plays symphony and chamber concerts, performs as resident opera and ballet orchestra and performs regularly at the Tampere Biennale contemporary music festival. Educational projects and other events for young listeners are a key focus of the orchestra. The Tampere Philharmonic has played in various parts of Europe, in the United States and in Japan.

The orchestra has released over 50 recordings including music by Leonard Bernstein, Carl Nielsen, Jean Sibelius, George Enescu, Jouni Kaipainen, Uljas Pulkkis and Einojuhani Rautavaara. The recordings have garnered recognition and several awards, including five Cannes Classical Awards. The recording of Peteris Vasks's second symphony received the Cannes Classical Disc of the Year 2004 special award, and the Tiensuu disc received the Emma award for classical music, which was awarded for the first time in the spring of 2007. The first recording of Rautavaara's Kaivos opera was nominated for a 2012 Grammy award. The recording, which included music by Uljas Pulkkis, was chosen as Yleisradio's Record of the Year 2011.

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1930 and was municipalized by the City of Tampere in 1947. Prior to Matthew Halls, the chief conductors of the orchestra have been Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Hannu Lintu, John Storgårds, Eri Klas, Tuomas Hannikainen, Leonid Grin, Ari Rasilainen, Atso Almila, Paavo Rautio, Juhani Raiskinen and Eero Kosonen.