The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra

The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra brings together the finest of Irish and European orchestral musicians, with Irish and International soloists, conductors and composers...celebrating our shared musical heritage, pursuing performance excellence in the tradition of classical and contemporary symphonic music. Founded in the 1700's, The famous Violinist, Conductor and impresario Pierre Van Maldere conducting from 1751. The present Music Director & Conductor is Derek Gleeson. The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra gave regular concerts throughout the capital city until the late 1930's, at which point there was a cessation of activities with the advent of World War Two.

In 1997 The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra was reconstituted under the direction of Music Director Derek Gleeson, drawing its members from Irish and other European orchestral musicians. The reconstituted Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra gave its premier concert during the 1997 Kilkenny Arts Festival at the great 13th century Norman cathedral, "St, Canices" in the ancient city of Kilkenny.

In addition to performing the repertoire of standard classical masterworks, The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra is committed to giving a voice to Ireland's contemporary composers. Under Maestro Gleeson, the orchestra has recorded classical and contemporary repertoire for commercial record companies, including Albany Records (U.S.A.), BMG/Windham Hill Records, and in 2006 is featured on the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland's "Contemporary Music from Ireland, Volume Six" CD. Additionally, The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded film scores for Motion Pictures and Television.

In 2009, to great acclaim, The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Derek Gleeson made its inaugural tour of the United States under the auspices of Columbia Artists Management, Inc. It was the largest tour of the U.S. that year by any International Orchestra, performing in the major concert halls of 49 cities.  The tour presented sixteen of Ireland's foremost Soloists in the Classical and Traditional Irish genre, featuring the compositional works of  sixteen prominent Irish composers, of which eight world premiers of these composers' works were performed.

In 2010 the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra toured China, opening the prestigious Beijing Summer Festival “Roam about the Classics” with concerts at the foremost theatre in Asia, The National Centre for the Performing Arts at the Opera House in Beijing, broadcast on TV throughout China to over 400 million people.  The DPO also performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre’s official World Expo Program.