Saarländisches Staatsorchester Saarbrücken

Founded on 14 June 1912 as the orchestra of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde — forty players doing duty for opera, spa concerts and a series of its own — it grew under Felix Lederer, who gave Saarbrücken its first complete Ring in 1924/25 and was dismissed together with the orchestra's Jewish members after 1935. Rebuilt as the Städtisches Orchester in 1946 under Philipp Wüst, it has held its present name since 1977 and A-Orchester rank since 1993. It plays the Staatstheater's opera and ballet and eight symphony concerts a season in the Congresshalle; Sébastien Rouland, general music director since 2018/19, has pushed French repertoire.