Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Amsterdam, Netherlands that, in addition to being the country's premier orchestra, was ranked by Gramophone Magazine in 2008 as the best symphony orchestra in the world. The Dutch orchestra has a long history that began when the famed conductor Willem Mengelberg began his fifty year career as its chief conductor and music director in 1895. Following Mengelberg's tenure, which almost single-handedly worked to bring the orchestra to international prominence, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has been led by a series of world-renowned music directors and continues to be a standard by which many symphony orchestras around the globe are measured.