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Kent Nagano has been the deciding influential figure as the orchestra moves into the new century. Nagano was named Principal Conductor and Artistic Director at the beginning of the 2000-2001 season. The unique partnership that quickly developed between orchestra and conductor has been met with enthusiasm by audiences and critics alike. Nagano remained in his position until 2006 and now serves as the orchestra’s Conductor Laureate.

In September 2007 Ingo Metzmacher became Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the DSO. He is the first German conductor to hold this position. In his first year as Music Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ingo Metzmacher explored the specific relation between the German mind and music in the chosen theme "On the German Soul".

Tours of the DSO have included concerts in Lebanon, Russia, Asia, the USA and South America, as well as regular engagements at the Salzburg Festival and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Its relationship with the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle has resulted in a series of guest performances in Eastern Europe (Sofia, Bucharest, Warsaw, Belgrade and Sibiu). Further, the DSO performed in the major European concerts halls, such as the Auditorium National, Palais des Beaux Arts and Megaron. In 2008-2009 season, the orchestra will travel to Asia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain and France.

Ingo Metzmacher

In September 2007, succeeding Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Kent Nagano, Ingo Metzmacher becomes the first German conductor in this position in the history of the orchestra founded 60 years ago.

Innovative programs and a passionate commitment to the music of the 20th century have always been Metzmacher’s trademark and firmly established him as a leading international conductor. Highlights of the past months were his appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic in their prestigious subscription concerts where he performed Messiaen’s Illuminations of the Beyond…and at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg, performances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Bamberg Philharmonic Orchestra and his debut at the Zurich Opera House with Humperdinck’s Königskinder.