The heir to the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire founded in 1828, the Orchestre de Paris gave its inaugural concert on November 14, 1967, under the direction of Charles Munch. Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi, and most recently Daniel Harding have followed Mr. Munch as music director. In January 2021, Klaus Mäkelä began a six-year tenure as the 10th music director of the Orchestre de Paris.

After many changes over its half-century of history, the Orchestra de Paris became principal resident of the Philharmonie de Paris when it opened in January 2015. The building, designed by the architect Jean Nouvel, is a venue ideally suited to perpetuating its French tradition and tone color. In January 2019, the orchestra embarked on a new stage in its rich history by becoming a department situated at the very core of the artistic project of the Philharmonie de Paris, an integral part of this cultural hub unparalleled anywhere in the world.

The Orchestre de Paris, France’s leading symphony orchestra, gives approximately 100 concerts with its 119 musicians each season, at the Philharmonie de Paris and on international tours. The orchestra’s strategy places it in the direct line of the French musical tradition, and it therefore plays a key role in serving both the repertories of the 19th and 20th centuries. It also fosters contemporary creation by hosting composers in residence, premiering numerous works, and presenting cycles devoted to the leading composers of the 20th century (Messiaen, Dutilleux, Boulez, and others).

Strengthened by its position at the heart of the artistic and educational facilities of the Philharmonie de Paris, the Orchestra de Paris more than ever views its work for young people as a top priority. Whether in the various spaces at the Philharmonie or outside its walls—in Paris or its suburbs—it offers a wide range of activities, open to schoolchildren or families as well as to citizens who are further removed from musical life and in vulnerable situations.

Klaus Mäkelä has served as chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic since 2020 and music director of Orchestre de Paris since 2021. Artistic partner to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra since 2022, he will assume the title of chief conductor in 2027. An exclusive Decca Classics artist, he has recorded the complete Sibelius symphony cycle with the Oslo Philharmonic and Stravinsky’s The Firebird and The Rite of Spring with Orchestre de Paris.

With Orchestre de Paris, Mr. Mäkelä performed Stravinsky’s Ballets Russes (The Firebird, Pétrouchka, and The Rite of Spring) at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in a special collaboration with three filmmakers. The Ballets Russes project continues to be a main focus of Mr. Mäkelä’s third season, including performances in France and the US, and a recording of Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka and Debussy’s Jeux and Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune for Decca Classics. The 2023–2024 season is also a season of pianists, featuring Bertrand Chamayou, Yuja Wang, Leif Ove Andsnes, Daniil Trifonov, Alexandre Kantorow, and Lang Lang in repertoire ranging from Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff to Ravel, Chopin, and Saint-Saëns. Additional highlights include world premieres by Unsuk Chin and Anna Thorvaldsdottir and the French premiere of Miroslav Srnka’s Superorganisms.

Following residencies with the Oslo Philharmonic at the Edinburgh and Lucerne festivals in August, Mr. Mäkelä opened his fourth season as chief conductor with Thomas Larcher’s SymphonyNo. 2 and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Program highlights of 2023–2024 include Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, and Brahms’s Double Concerto, in which he conducts and plays cello alongside violinist Daniel Lozakovich.

With the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mr. Mäkelä conducts six programs this season, concluding with Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 as part of a complete cycle celebrating the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Guest performances include a residency at the Vienna Musikverein and the opening concert of the Dresden Festival.

Mr. Mäkelä guest conducts three orchestras in the 2023–2024 season, returning to the US to lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra and to Germany for three performances with the Munich Philharmonic.