The VU-Orkest was founded in 1962 as a chamber orchestra of about 30 members, at the time under the direction of Otto Klap. In 1975 Daan Admiraal became the new permanent conductor. It was under his inspiring leadership that the VU-Orkest grew to be the largest amateur symphony orchestra in the Netherlands. The 80 to 120-member ensemble performs primarily late Romantic and twentieth-century music. The VU-Orkest has performed works of Mahler, Shostakovich, Bruckner, Stravinsky, Bartók, Verdi, Britten, Prokofjev, Brahms, Hindemith, Liszt, Berlioz, Ravel, Wagner, Franck, Khachaturian, Saint-Saëns, Dvořák, Berg, Schönberg, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Honegger and Poulenc, just to name a few. The VU-Orkest also plays music by less universally well known, less universally popular composers than these, such as Keuris, Ives, Copland, Dutilleux, Pijper, Martinů and Röntgen.

Now and then the VU-Orkest has performed works which have never been performed in the Netherlands, or which Dutch audiences had not heard in decades, such as Leoš Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass or the Seventh Symphony by Shostakovich.

For a chronological overview of works performed by the VU-Orkest, click here.

Soloists

With regard to soloists the VU-Orkest has established an excellent reputation over the years and excellent, well known soloists enjoy working with the orchestra. In recent years a wide variety of performers such as Ronald Brautigam, Jan Wijn, Jaap van Zweden, Peter Brunt, Charlotte Margiono, Emmy Verhey, Pieter Wispelwey, Vera Beths, Karin Lechner, Paul Komen and Janine Jansen have played or sung with the accompaniment of the VU-Orkest.

Choirs

Besides soloists, the VU-Orkest also regularly accompanies choirs, which have included the VU Choir, the Toonkunstkoor Amsterdam, the Philharmonisch Koor Toonkunst Rotterdam and the Koninklijke Christelijke Oratoriumvereniging Amsterdam.