rehearsals The Metropole Orkest was founded in 1945 by
Dolf van der Linden at the urging of officials from
Netherlands Public Broadcasting, which manages and subsidizes the orchestra. The name of the group was suggested by van der Linden, one of the musicians, who led the ensemble for 35 years until he stepped down in 1980. He was replaced by
Rogier van Otterloo, who led the group until his sudden death in 1988.
Dick Bakker then held the baton until 2005, when
Vince Mendoza took over. He gave the orchestra a more international character. In August 2013,
Jules Buckley took over the position of chief conductor from Mendoza. The Metropole Orkest is a regular feature at the
North Sea Jazz festival and the annual
Holland Festival along with many TV and radio programs. The Dutch film and television industry relies heavily on the Metropole Orkest for its film scores. From 2005 to 2013 the Metropole was under the baton of four-time Grammy Award winner Vince Mendoza and performed frequently on the concert stage, at festivals and on recordings of both Dutch and international artists. In European radio broadcasting, its closest counterparts are the
BBC Concert Orchestra, and in particular the now defunct
BBC Radio Orchestra which had similar instrumentation. The ensembles often performed with the same guest conductors and soloists, using the same bespoke arrangements. The Metropole Orkest is known for its performances of
world music and
classic jazz works. It has worked with many prominent artists, including
Ella Fitzgerald,
Adrian Belew,
Dizzy Gillespie,
Al Jarreau,
New York Voices,
Tori Amos,
Bono,
Brian Eno,
Hardwell,
Elvis Costello,
Within Temptation,
Snarky Puppy,
Marcus Miller,
Todd Rundgren,
Jacob Collier,
Markus Stockhausen,
Louis Cole,
Triptykon,
Cory Wong,
Cory Henry,
Basement Jaxx and
Robbie Williams. The Dutch government was considering withdrawing funding from the orchestra but, at the last minute, in December 2012, politicians secured funding for the orchestra until 2017. Starting on 31 January 2017, an online survey was held to select a group for a joint project. Six months later,
Epica was elected from 650 suggestions, winning the most of 60,000 votes. Without revealing the title of the existing Epica song that was to be recorded, a joint studio session was scheduled to take place in
Hilversum on 13 December 2017. In the build-up to a
Dutch parliamentary debate on the culture budgets, scheduled for 30 May 2018, the Metropole Orkest announced that by 2018 the subsidy budget cuts in the preceding years had caused a 50% reduction in the amount of work the orchestra could offer its musicians. Many of its musicians were no longer able to make a living from just their work at the orchestra, and faced problems combining the irregular work hours as a musician with part-time jobs needed to supplement their income. The orchestra objected to the situation as described, responding that it feared that the orchestra would diminish in quality or ultimately be forced to shut down completely. ==Chief conductors==