Metropole Orkest

Born in 1945 within Dutch public broadcasting, the Metropole Orkest developed in Hilversum as a permanent ensemble positioned between a large jazz band and a symphony orchestra. Founded by conductor Dolf van der Linden to accompany radio and television programmes, the Metropole Orkest gradually specialised in a repertoire blending jazz, orchestral pop, film music, chanson and crossover projects with world music and electronics. The successive leaderships of Rogier van Otterloo and Dick Bakker, together with regular collaborations with Vince Mendoza and Jules Buckley, accompanied a growing international orientation and commissions for original arrangements. Equally at home in studios and on major festival stages, the Metropole Orkest collaborates with soloists from jazz, pop and soul, including Snarky Puppy, with whom the orchestra recorded the album “Sylva” in 2015. The ensemble retains a rhythm section close to that of a big band while incorporating a large string section, enabling the Metropole Orkest to move from dense orchestral writing to more intimate settings, to accompany singers, to revisit existing repertoires or to create themed programmes around contemporary composers.