National Symphony Orchestra
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), founded in 1931, is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C.. Its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
The orchestra was founded in 1947 by Allied occupation authorities after World War II, as the orchestra of "Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk" (NWDR; Northwest German Radio), with the name "Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester" (Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra). For the first part of its history, the orchestra did not have a principal conductor, but worked with guest conductors. Christoph von Dohnányi was the first conductor to serve as the orchestra's principal conductor, from 1964 to 1969.