RTÉ Concert Orchestra

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is one of two symphony orchestras associated with the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ. The group is generally oriented toward lighter music and introducing general audiences to orchestral music, but it has played a wide range of repertoire. The RTÉ Concert Orchestra was founded in 1948 as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra. It was a small studio group but has grown to 45 players and performs more than 80 live concerts annually in addition to radio and television broadcasts. The RTÉ Concert Orchestra has backed the extravaganzas of vocal stars, including Luciano Pavarotti and Kiri te Kanawa. Jazz has had a presence in the orchestra's programming since its early days, and this expanded in the 2000s under frequent conductor John Wilson. A 2021 project featured arrangements of the music of Aretha Franklin, arranged and conducted by jazz trumpeter Guy Barker.