The Gävle Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest in Sweden, dating back to 1912. The first artistic director of this 25-man orchestra was the composer Ruben Liljefors. It has grown to 52 full-time members during the past 92 years. The orchestra is based in the provincial capital of Gävle, but it tours regularly both in its home province and elsewhere in Sweden. The Gävle Symphony Orchestra has also toured in the Netherlands, Finland, Norway and the former Yugoslavia. There was a unique collaboration with the symphony orchestra in Dubrovnik during the 1990s when the two orchestras performed Benjamin Britten's War Requiem in support of the suffering people in war-torn Croatia.

Since its inception the Gävle Symphony Orchestra has had a succession of distinguished conductors as artistic directors, including Stig Westerberg, Rainer Miedel, Göran W Nilson, Hannu Koivula and Petri Sakari. On 1st January 2004, Petter Sundkvist assumed the post of artistic adviser to the orchestra. Sundkvist has worked closely with the orchestra since 1990 and has in recent years served as first guest conductor.

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