In 1960, the towns of Bolzano and Trento founded the Haydn Orchestra, a well-known symphony orchestra
The regional orchestra of the two Provinces of South Tyrol and Trentino has its home, among other places, in the Municipal Theatre of Bolzano, where it performs on numerous evenings. When it was founded in 1960, then with a line-up of 40 musicians, it was named after the composer Joseph Haydn, an Austrian composer of the Viennese Classic. The intention was to offer graduates of the Bolzano Music Conservatory job opportunities within the region as well as to inspire the local population for classical music. In order to achieve this, summer concerts have also been offered outside the centres since the beginning.
The repertoire of the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento - "Haydn-Orchester von Bozen und Trient", in German, "Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento" in Italian - ranges from Baroque to contemporary music: the first performance in Trento in 1960 was Mozart's Requiem. The orchestra has its permanent rehearsal room in the Haydn Auditorium in Bolzano, the office is next to it. Today, Giorgio Battistelli is the artistic director and Arvo Volmer is the chief conductor. Claudio Abbado, Eliahu Inbal and Riccardo Muti were among the guest conductors.
