The Royal Danish Orchestra

The Royal Danish Orchestra – the world’s oldest orchestra

Like stringed instruments by the old masters, orchestras tend to improve with age. That gives the Royal Danish Orchestra a rare distinction even before you hear it play. For seniority, no ensemble in the world can match it.

As the oldest orchestras in the US and UK were celebrating their centenaries in the 1940s, this one was marking 500 years as a performing unit - the oldest musical ensemble of its kind on earth by some distance. The Dresden Staatskapelle, perhaps Germany’s most respected vintage orchestra, turned 400 in 1948 - a whole century younger than its Danish counterpart.

‘Unrivalled pedigree’ sounds like marketing speak. In the case of the Royal Danish Orchestra, it can be uttered with genuine meaning. Five years before its 1948 quincentenary celebrations, the two most sought-after conductors on the planet were fighting over which would secure a date to conduct the orchestra in Copenhagen. In the end, Herbert von Karajan trumped his rival Wilhelm Furtwängler by offering his services for free.

Born in Paris and raised in Chartres, Marie Jacquot preferred playing tennis to the piano in her youth, but she was also captivated by the trombone, and at the age of fifteen she decided to devote herself entirely to music. She studied trombone in Paris and later conducting in Vienna and Weimar. Since completing her conducting studies in 2014, she has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the world of classical music.

She has conducted many of Europe’s finest orchestras - as the Staatskapelle Dresden, BR-SO Munich, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National de France, BBC-Symphony Orchestra - as well as important orchestras outside of Europe, like the Cleveland Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. She further was a guest at several of Europe’s most renowned opera houses.

Since the 2023/2024 season, she has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and from the 2026/2027 season she will become Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra. Previously, she served as Erste Kapellmeisterin at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg as well as Erste Kapellmeisterin and Deputy Music Director at Mainfranken Theater Würzburg.

In 2025, Marie Jacquot made her debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, as well as with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. In the spring of 2026, she will conduct one of her absolute favourite composers, Richard Strauss, in Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Opera Elisabeth Linton’s new staging of Der Rosenkavalier.

Among her distinctions and nominations are the Ernst Schuch Conducting Award in 2019. In 2020 she was nominated as “Newcomer of the Year” at the International Opera Awards, and in February 2024 she won the Révélation/Chef d'orchestre award at the Victoires de la Musique Classique.

Marie Jacquot is principal conductor at the Royal Danish Theatre from 2024 to 2029.

Musicians

Since 1448 all members of The Royal Danish Orchestra have had their own unique number. The first three from 1448 were number 1, 2 and 3. Trumpetplayers Walther, Andreas and Hans. Find each musicians unique number after their name.

Concert masters

Tobias Durholm (978), Mikkel Futtrup (1008), Emma Steele (1068), Erik Heide (C)

Violin 1

Anna Gwozdz (968), Kumi Shimizu (1076), Tanja Birkelund (951), Anne Egendal (950), Lars Bjørnkjær (962), Rikke Yde (976), Sara Wallevik (983),Tina Træholt (984), Patrick Mårtensson (1029), Charlotte Rafn (L) (989), Linda Parenicova (1015), Signe Ane Andersen (1024), Desislava Vaskova Kostova (1083), Benedikte Damgaard (1084), Niels Levinsen (C), Ida Spang-Hanssen (C), Pernille von Deden (C), Astrid Øland (C)

Violin 2

Inkeri Vänskä Nielsen (1048), Therese Andersen (1065), Alexander Chojecki (K from 2026), Charlotte Rafn (989), Ursula di Nucci (C), Kenneth McFarlan (935), Kristoffer Lund Madsen (958), Grit Dirckinck-Holmfeld Westi (960), Vladimir Landa (969), Inge Husted Andersen (975), Flemming Andersen (977), Vanessa Blander Hedegaard (1027), Helena Højgaard Nielsen (1028), Alexandra Schneider Hansen (1072), Austin Lee Hansen (C)

Viola

Iben Bramsnæs Teilmann (991), Loan Cazal (), Ida Speyer Grøn (1051), vacant, Lotte Wallevik (988), Anne Lindeskov (990), Nanna Rasmussen (1035), Hidekazu Uno (1017), Jens Balslev (1045), Alexander Øllgaard (1046), Naja Helmer (L) (1080), Zane Sturme (K)

Cello

Joel Laakso (1064), Tomas Lundström (1074), Kim Bak Dinitzen (L) (1019), Emilie Eskær (1009), Kristian Nørby (973), Nina Reintoft (1005), Juliane von Hahn (1031), Elen Lura Haakensen (1032), Terese Åstrand Radev (1033), Johanna Larsson Dahlkvist (C), Jacob la Cour (C)

Double Bass

Meherban Gillett (1054), vacant, Ludwig Schwark (1068), Ramsey Harvard (1055), Jeppe Mørch Sørensen (1010), Yonas Ben-Hamadou (1014), Andrew Stalker (C), Jonathan Colbert (C)

Flute

Brit Halvorsen (1062), Joachim Becerra Thomsen (1079), Nikolaj von Scholten (981)

Flute/Piccolo

Marie Holzegel Otte (1040), Lene Beaver (C)

Oboe

Joakim Dam Thomsen (963), Felicia Greciuc (1073), Pelle Gravers Vänskä Nielsen (1041)

Cor anglais

Rixon Thomas (1043)

Clarinet

Lee Morgan (926), John Kruse (946)

Es clarinet/bass clarinet

Wei Pan (C)

Bass clarinet

Viktor Wennesz (C), Per Majland (C)

Bassoon

Jacob Dam Fredens (987), Magnus Koch Jensen (L) (1061), Jørgen Bracht Nielsen (1000)

Double bassoon

Sabine Weinschenk (1057), Archie Auger (C), Lars Mathiesen (C)

Horn

Ola Nilsson (940), Claudio Flückiger (1060), Allan Bendsen (967), Anna Lingdell (992), Pall Solstein (996), Johannes Undisz (1052), Constantin Glaner (L) (1075), Caroline Messner (C)

Trumpet

Nikolaj Viltoft (1039), Jeppe Lindberg (1067), Jonas Højen Wiik (1049), Lars Husum (1052), Holger Sandegaard Johansen (K), Christer Gustafsson (K)

Trombone

Kasper Thaarup (1047), Jonathan Goodwin (1078), Tobias Biörs (L) (1026), Will Kinmont (C)

Trombone/bass trombone

José Luis Rosas ()

Trombone/contra bass trombone

Marco Gomez (1081), vacant

Tuba

Lars Holmgaard (953)

Timpani

Henrik Thrane (1050), Henrik Malmgreen (1036)

Percussion

Mads Drewsen (994), Marcus Wall (1021), Mathias Friis-Hansen (1042), Jonathan Jakshøj (1082), Jens Oliver Kragelund (C)

Harp

Nina Schlemm (1020), Angelika Wagner (1037)

(L) = Leave
(C) = Contract

The Royal Danish Orchestra

The Royal Danish Orchestra is the oldest orchestra in the world, dating right back to 1448 and the Trumpet Corps at the court of King Christian I. The monarch’s coronation was accompanied by brass and percussion.

The ensemble provided any music the royal court happened to require, including musical accompaniment when, for example, an Italian opera company visited Denmark. Ever since the orchestra was founded, there has been an ensemble of permanent musicians, each of who is assigned a number. The legendary musician and composer John Dowland was Number 140. There were guest artistes too, including the renowned Christoph Willibald Gluck who not only conducted, but also composed music for the Royal Danish Orchestra. In 1749, his music accompanied the celebrations honouring the birth of the future King Christian VII. 

Eventually the orchestra was assigned to the orchestra pit of the Royal Danish Theatre, where the numerous performances called for several musicians. Following the reforms carried out by Johann Gottlieb Naumann in the 1780s, the ensemble comprised 46 members.

Of course, following the abolition of absolute monarchy in 1849, the ensemble’s function as a court orchestra changed. However, over the centuries of its existence, the orchestra had already evolved from a Renaissance orchestra, whose role was to support the pomp and circumstance of the monarch, into a much larger orchestra comprising several groups of instruments, before finally achieving the status of a modern symphony orchestra.

The appointment of the Norwegian composer and conductor Johan Svendsen in 1883 marked the start of a golden age for the orchestra. It was Svendsen who introduced the tradition of orchestral concerts. Large-scale symphonic music thereby also became a regular feature of the orchestra’s programmes.

The name of Carl Nielsen, a member of the orchestra for many years - both as 2nd violinist and conductor - is inextricably associated with the Royal Danish Orchestra.

Even though the orchestra became a state institution, its royal name and affiliation remained intact. King Frederik IX, a great connoisseur of music, had a very special relationship with the Royal Danish Orchestra, for many years exercising his talents as a conductor with the orchestra’s musicians.

Over the years, many great conductors and composers have worked with the Royal Danish Orchestra, including the likes of Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache and Daniel Barenboim. The orchestra constantly attracts great conductors: for example, Sir Simon Rattle, Mariss Jansons, Marek Janowski, Hartmut Haenchen, Michail Jurowski, Bertrand de Billy and Marie Jacquot who will become Chief Conductor of the Royal Danish Orchestra from season 2024/2025.

The orchestra, particularly famous for the sound of its strings, has at its disposal an exclusive collection of string instruments made by the great Italian masters. The orchestra accompanies the theatre’s opera and ballet performances, and gives symphony concerts on the main stage of the Copenhagen Opera House. Each season, there is also a series of popular chamber concerts in Takkelloftet (the Copenhagen Opera House’s small auditorium), featuring musicians from the orchestra’s own ranks.

The Royal Danish Orchestra has made a large number of CDs and DVDs, including internationally acclaimed DVD recordings of productions such as The Copenhagen Ring and Wagner’s Tannhäuser. A live recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8, conducted by Hartmut Haenchen and performed on the stage of the Opera of the Danish Royal Theatre (Copenhagen Opera House), captured international attention and received excellent reviews.

The Royal Danish Orchestra has toured the world, playing at festivals such as New York’s Lincoln Center Festival and making a critically acclaimed appearance at the Berliner Festspiele (2015). The orchestra has given concerts in prestigious venues: for example, in Dresden, Vienna’s Musikverein, Birmingham Concert Hall, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow (2018) and a sold-out concert at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg (2019). Recently, they played to full houses both at the Gasteig in Munich and during a lengthy tour of South Korea, which included a concert at the Seoul Arts Center (December 2019).

The chronology of The Royal Danish Orchestra 

By Troels Svendsen

The Royal Danish Orchestra is considered to be the world’s oldest orchestra of its kind. No other orchestra can boast a history so long and so rich in tradition – a tradition that stretches all the way back to 1448. Today, the Royal Danish Orchestra is the contemporary version of an unbroken string of diverse court orchestras that have served under Danish royalty since 1448.

1448: The Royal Danish Orchestra begins life as a trumpet corps featuring 12 trumpets, kettledrums, and 6 trombones. The orchestra also has a chorus. The Royal Danish Orchestra receives its name from the place where the chorus sang, known as the Court Chapel.

1556: In 1556, King Christian III engages Adrian Petit Coclicus as a "singer and musician" for his orchestra. Coclicus means “rooster”, and the man is notorious for chasing ‘hens’ – so much so that he ends up being guilty of bigamy, despite his having been bishop and confessor to the Pope himself. King Christian III hires Coclicus under the stipulation that he “live honourably and in a Christian manner, if he does not wish to be dismissed and lose his salary” – the salary consisted of 40 Joachimsthalers, 3 pounds of malt, 3 pounds of rye, 1 ox, 4 sheep, 4 mast-fed pigs, ½ a keg of butter and free lodging.

1588: King Christian IV is crowned, and court music enters its heyday. The Royal Danish Orchestra now consists of 16 trumpeters, 30 singers and 31 instrumentalists. The famous English composer and lute player John Dowland is engaged as conductor for the orchestra. He spends a total of 8 years in Copenhagen and receives a salary equivalent of an admiral.

1607: On 12 September 1607, court trumpeter Christen Laursen “unfortunately murdered” his fellow musician Frederick Mott. The murderer was later executed at Kronborg Castle. These were harsh times – another trumpeter who had been sentenced to life in prison was promised leniency on the following conditions: he was to climb up to the weathervane atop the Nikolaj Church tower, play his trumpet and drink numerous glasses of wine in toasts to the king’s health. He was then to throw the empty glasses down into the churchyard, and because they landed without breaking, it was interpreted as a good omen both for the king and for the church, and the court trumpeter was duly pardoned.

1655: In 1655 the violin makes its grand entrance into court music – previously, the featured instruments had included Renaissance instruments such as the zinc, the crumhorn, the clarinet and trumpet, trombone, flute, lute, and viola da gamba. But King Frederik III’s wife, Sophie Amalie, was an admirer of the Court of the Sun King at Versailles, and wished to emulate it by establishing her “violin orchestra” inspired by Louis XIV’s “Grande Bande" and “Petite Bande". Thus comes into being the title "court violin", the forerunner of the current "royal orchestra musician" designation (today’s title for members of the Royal Danish Orchestra).

1659: During the Dano-Swedish wars, the members of the violin orchestra, like other courtiers, are stationed on the frontlines at Løngangen and the Royal Arsenal when Swedish King Carl X invaded Copenhagen in 1659. There were no losses among Frederik III’s musicians.

1703: The Royal Danish Orchestra added woodwind instruments, and now played Tafelmusik, cantatas, and entr’acte music for French comedies, as well as dance music for masked balls and other festive events. But the Danish court also wanted opera, and in October 1703 the royal musicians, now numbering about 15 members, take up residence in a brand-new opera house located at Fredericiagade and Bredgade. The opera house was intended to serve as a public theatre with a royal box for the founder himself, Frederik IV. But the opera house is in use for just five years due to lack of public support. For the following 10 years it stood empty – only to be used as a corn warehouse, armoury, cadet school, barracks, a house of parliament, an infirmary and the Maritime and Commercial court. Today, the former opera house is home to the Eastern High Court.

1770: The Royal Danish Orchestra's original Trumpet Corps is disbanded in 1769, and the reins are passed to the trumpets of the Horse Guards. Free of court duties, the orchestra began to expand and become more of what we today consider an orchestra. After a few brief sojourns in other accommodations, the Royal Danish Orchestra finally took up permanent residence in the Royal Danish Theatre in 1770, which it has called home ever since. Thus begins a long period of flourishing for the Royal Danish Orchestra, which can muster an orchestra of approx. 45 musicians for large events.

1791: In 1788, double bass player Gotfred Schreiber died, leaving a wife and eight children. Conductor J.A.P. Schulz arranged a charity concert for the widow and children, but as the other orchestra members were not much better off than the Schreibers, Schulz decided to establish a widow’s pension fund for the orchestra. The idea is reported to have been received with “joyous thanks”. The orchestra performed two concerts each year to benefit the pension fund, and contributed 50 rix-dollars to the fund when the orchestra gave performances outside the royal purview. The first widow's pension fund concert took place in December 1791.

1810: "Mozart’s works receive no better performance than by this capital's orchestra". The orchestra in question is the Royal Danish Orchestra, and the statement issues from Mozart’s own widow, Constanze Mozart, a frequent visitor to the Royal Danish Theatre. She had married Councillor of State Georg Nikolaus Nissen and lived in Copenhagen. She wished that Mozart had lived to witness the masterful performance of his Don Giovanni by the Royal Danish Orchestra, and that he had had the chance to experience the joys that he never could in Germany.

1828: In 1828, the Royal Danish Orchestra voted on a new uniform, which was to be worn at the upcoming premiere of Elverhøj. Clarinettist Jens Krag voted against; his pupil Theodor Hornbeck had sworn to do likewise, but changed his mind. Jens Krag was so incensed that he gave Theodor Hornbeck a beating, which was a big mistake. Krag had to submit to a disciplinary investigation and ended up as the first musician to be sent to the Blue Tower – but not the one at Copenhagen Castle in which Leonora Christina had been imprisoned. This Blue Tower was located at Langebro and served as the gaol for courtiers and civil servants, a category to which the Royal Danish Orchestra belonged. Much to Theodor Hornbeck’s chagrin, the new uniform was soon discarded.

1849: After more than 400 years in the King's service, the Royal Danish Orchestra was transferred to state authority, and that means hard times for the orchestra members. Many of them are threatened with pauper's prison, while Mozart Petersen (see photo and caricature at right) ends up spending time in gaol.

1851: In 1851, the parliament set up a commission to abolish the Royal Danish Orchestra, with a music manager merely hiring musicians on a performance basis. This crisis was averted by theatre manager Johan Ludvig Heiberg with the statement: "The majesty of art resides in its aristocracy… The prestige of the Royal Danish Orchestra cannot of course be destroyed, nor can its high standing be lost, but its prestige is certain to be damaged if the avenue of royal engagement is closed off.”

1874: The Danes were mad about Mozart – so much so that a brother and sister named Mozart and Mozartine (surname Pedersen) were often seen in the streets of Copenhagen. Mozart Petersen is engaged as a clarinettist in the Royal Danish Orchestra at the age of 15, becoming colleagues with his father, a rabid admirer of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At Mozart Pedersen’s favourite tavern in Nyhavn, Hos Foght, many rum toddies were consumed after performances. One February evening in 1874, Mozart Pedersen had a little trouble finding his way home, fell into Nyhavn Canal, and drowned.

1883: Johan Svendsen was engaged as conductor at the Royal Danish Theatre in 1883 and as his condition for taking the position, he requests that he be allowed to give regular symphony concerts with the Royal Danish Orchestra. He receives the reply: “There is no reason why four performances of symphony concerts outside of the Theatre’s requirements should not be possible”. And thus the famous Royal Danish Orchestra symphony concerts come into being on a permanent basis. Apart from a few brief interruptions, the Royal Danish Orchestra has performed symphony concerts ever since, and over the years, these performances have taken the Royal Danish Orchestra on tour around most of Europe as well as Japan and Australia.

A veritable cavalcade of great artists have guest conducted the Royal Danish Orchestra over the years, including Erich Kleiber, Bruno Walter, Hans Knappertsbusch, Pierre Monteux, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Fritz Busch, Otto Klemperer, Carl Schuricht, Rafael Kubelik, Edwin Fischer, Ferenc Fricsay, George Solti, Sergiu Celibidache, Igor Markevitch, Karl Böhm, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Münch, André Previn, Kurt Masur and Leonard Bernstein.

1913: In 1913 the Royal Danish Orchestra established an association whose purpose is to a) "through our unity to protect the artistic, official, and financial interests of our members as well as represent the Royal Danish Orchestra” and b) “to host social events”.

1926: The first female member of the Royal Danish Orchestra in 1926. Today, about half of the orchestra is composed of women.

1955: The Royal Danish Orchestra expanded over the next decade from approx. 70 members to include over 100 musicians.

1970: The Royal Danish Orchestra had never been more royal than during the reign of King Frederik IX (1947-72). The King had received a musical education and regularly served as conductor for the Royal Danish Orchestra itself. One historic concert was given on 8 March 1970, for which one of the soloists in the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 was the King’s son-in-law, Prince Henrik. The following exchange was recorded at the rehearsal: King Frederik IX: “The tempo is too slow” – Prince Henrik: “But that’s my tempo” – King Frederik IX: I’m the conductor here – Prince Henrik: “And I’m the soloist” – King Frederik IX: “Yes, but I’m the King!”

1998: In 1998, the Royal Danish Orchestra celebrated its 550th anniversary.

2005: The Royal Danish Orchestra, together with the Royal Danish Opera, took up residence at the newly built harbour-front Opera House.

Honorary members of the Royal Danish Orchestra

Edwin Fischer | A.W. | Svend Wilhelm Hansen | Igor Markevitch | Sergiu Celibidache | Hanne Wilhelm Hansen | Henning Rohde | Peter Augustinus | Danny Kaye | Victor Borge | Leif Juul Jørgensen | Michael Schønwandt | Troels Svendsen | Mogens Andresen

Administration

Music Director: Martin Brommann
Administrative Director: Trine Bielefeldt Stjernø
Orchestra Administrator: Jens Juul
Orchestra Assistants: Johanna Lundgren, Elia Bagger
Music Library: Ulla Aasted Due, Carol Conrad, Marie Kock Kruse Jensen (student), Ebbe Bollen (student)
Program Editor: Mariann Sejer Lindhardt Nielsen
PR and Press: Louise Pedersen