Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Dutch: Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, pronounced [ˌkoːnɪŋklə kɔnˈsɛrtxəbʌu.ɔrˌkɛst]) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra until Queen Beatrix conferred the "Royal" prefix upon it in celebration of its centenary in 1988; the prefix was also granted to the concert hall in 2013.

The Concertgebouw opened on 11 April 1888. The Concertgebouw Orchestra was established several months later and gave its first concert in the Concertgebouw on 3 November 1888. This performance was conducted by the orchestra's first chief conductor, Willem Kes.

Willem Kes served as the orchestra's chief conductor from its 1888 founding to 1895. In 1895, Willem Mengelberg became chief conductor and remained in this position for fifty years, an unusually long tenure for a music director. He is generally regarded as having brought the orchestra to a level of major international significance, with a particular championing of such then-contemporary composers as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.

For approximately its first 75 years, the Concertgebouw Orchestra had a complex roster of conductors.