Philharmonia Orchestra

The Philharmonia Orchestra has been resident at Garsington Opera since 2017. Our relationship with this world-class orchestra began with Pelléas et Mélisande under conductor Jac van Steen.

In 2020, it was with the Philharmonia that we gave landmark performances of Fidelio in Concert – one of the first performances to a live audience in the UK since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, they joined us for our Edinburgh International Festival debut with Rusalka.

Founded in 1945, the Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the world’s great orchestras. Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali took up the baton as Principal Conductor in 2021, and Marin Alsop joined him as Principal Guest Conductor in 2023. The Orchestra is made up of 80 outstanding musicians. It has premiered works by Richard Strauss, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Errollyn Wallen and others, and performs with many of the world’s most admired soloists.