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20. March 201627. February 2016 by sh

In 2014 the Saarland mandolin orchestra (SZO) celebrated its 60th anniversary. The SZO is one of the leading German orchestras of its kind and enjoys great reputation for its ambitious artistic work. It can look back on many years of continuous concert activity and participation in European music festivals. Concert tours led the orchestra through Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Luxemburg, Croatia, Japan and the USA. 10 CDs, radio and TV recordings of more than 500 works are proof of the great variety and high level of its artistic activities.

As federal orchestra of the association of mandolin society and society for folk music (BZVS) the SZO is closely linked to the BZVS‘s tradition of workshops and the tuition of young musicians. It consists of highly motivated lay musicians from local Saarland societies, many of whom are former winners of the Jugend Musiziert (young people playing music) competition. It performs also as chamber orchestra, which is documented on the latest CD “Facetten“ for the first time.

In its long history the SZO played under renowned conductors e.g. Siegfried Behrend (Berlin), Marcel Wengler (Luxemburg) and Helmut Fackler. From 1988 to 2021, guitarist Reiner Stutz held the artistic direction of the orchestra. In 2022 Benjamin Schäfer takes over the conductor’s desk.