Mahler Chamber Orchestra

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997.

The MCO appears throughout the year in about 60-70 concerts and performances. It consists of 45 musicians from 20 different nations. Its activities include concerts, opera projects, chamber music as well as CD recordings. Strong artistic links have been established with Daniel Harding (principal guest conductor 1998-2003, music director 2003-2008, Principal Conductor 2008-2011 and Conductor Laureate since 2011) and Claudio Abbado. The MCO has stable residencies in Ferrara (Ferrara Musica, honorary president: Claudio Abbado) and Lucerne (Lucerne Festival).

The MCO's repertoire reaches from baroque to contemporary music. The MCO is a free financed orchestra without any state support. Friends and sponsors are needed to maintain the artistic life of the orchestra.

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1997 on the initiative of Claudio Abbado and a group of musicians from the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra who wished to continue to play together even after reaching the youth orchestra's age limit. The combined principles of artistic curiosity and the broadest possible spectrum of repertoire, both at the highest possible musical level, guided the ambitious ensemble in its founding and continue to shape its work today. The ensemble’s repertoire reaches from baroque to contemporary and includes everything from chamber music to symphonic programming, from operatic standards to world premieres.

In order to maintain these high standards, collaboration with high-profile partners has been of particular importance from the very beginning, in the selection of soloists and conductors as well as concert promoters and venues. Alongside founder Claudio Abbado, Daniel Harding has been a determining figure in the development of the orchestra. Serving at first as principal guest conductor, Harding became music director in summer 2003, Principal Conductor in 2008 and Conductor Laureate in 2011. The orchestra also maintains close artistic relationships with its Artistic Partner Leif Ove Andsnes. Projects with noted specialists in particular techniques or repertoire also make up an important element of the orchestra’s program, strengthening its reputation as a multi-faceted ensemble. Baroque workshops, at which specialists instruct in historical performance practice, have been a part of the MCO’s schedule since 2004, and the MCO works regularly with experts in early or contemporary music, such as Reinhard Goebel or Jonathan Nott.

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