Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra

Founded in 1937, the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra (OPO) has a storied history. Many of its members are graduates of the Odessa Conservatory, with nearly half having entered from the Stoliarsky School. Throughout the Soviet era, the orchestra performed under renowned conductors such as Nathan Rachlin, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Sanderling, Arvid Jansons, and Mariss Jansons. However, it was restricted from travelling outside the USSR.

With Ukraine’s independence, the orchestra’s status rose. In January 1993, the Government of Ukraine awarded the OPO federal status, making it the only performing arts organization outside Kyiv to receive this honour. This recognition acknowledged the orchestra’s dynamic progress under music director Hobart Earle.

Since 1992, the OPO has made fifteen trips abroad, performing in prestigious venues such as Vienna’s Musikverein, the Philharmonie in Cologne, Bonn’s Beethovenhalle, London’s Barbican Hall, Madrid’s National Auditorium, and major halls in Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, and the United Nations.

The OPO became the first symphony orchestra from a former Soviet republic to perform at the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society since the USSR’s breakup. The local audience in Odesa regularly fills the concert hall, taking pride in the orchestra’s achievements. In 2002, President Leonid Kuchma granted National status to the OPO, making it the first performing arts organization in Ukraine outside Kyiv to achieve this distinction and the only one to elevate from regional to national status since Ukraine’s independence in 1991.

Source: Odessa Philharmonic