BrucknerOrchestra Linz

The Bruckner Orchester Linz looks back on more than two hundred years of history and has borne its present name officially since 1966/67. It is the symphony orchestra of Upper Austria and at the same time the orchestra of the Landestheater Linz. Its home is the Musiktheater am Volksgarten, opened in 2013 and one of the most modern theatre buildings in Europe.

Its work includes the concerts of the International Bruckner Festival Linz, its own series at the Brucknerhaus Linz and at the Vienna Musikverein, and the Grand Concert Night of the Ars Electronica Festival. As an ambassador for Upper Austria and for its namesake the orchestra has recently appeared in the USA, in Japan and in numerous European countries.

The orchestra has been shaped by chief conductors such as Theodor Guschlbauer, Manfred Mayrhofer, Martin Sieghart and Dennis Russell Davies. Guest conductors have included Clemens Krauss, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sergiu Celibidache, Kurt Eichhorn, Václav Neumann, Christoph von Dohnányi, Zubin Mehta, Serge Baudo, Horst Stein, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Michael Gielen, Bernhard Klee, Steven Sloane, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Michael Schønwandt and Franz Welser-Möst.

Since Markus Poschner took office as chief conductor in autumn 2017 the orchestra has opened up noticeably. New formats, unexpected venues and fresh approaches to audience engagement produce concerts that resonate strongly with audiences and press alike.

Poschner and the Bruckner Orchester Linz are in search of their own way of playing the music of the orchestra’s namesake, giving it an unmistakable Upper Austrian accent.

The benchmark for this is the complete recording of all Bruckner symphonies in every version, realised together with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Markus Poschner for Capriccio and completed in 2024 for the composer’s 200th birthday. It received the ICMA Special Achievement Award 2024.

The wider discography ranges from a complete Bruckner cycle for arte nova and Sony through the Symphonies Nos. 6 to 11, The Voyage and the opera Kepler by Philip Glass to acclaimed recordings of works by Mozart, Schubert, Franz Schmidt, Siegfried Matthus, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Gustav Holst.

At the Austrian Music Theatre Awards 2020 the Bruckner Orchester Linz was named Orchestra of the Year.

The 2026/27 season is Markus Poschner’s last as chief conductor. From autumn 2027 the violinist and conductor Christoph Koncz takes over the position.