Originally called Stockholm Spårvägsmäns Musikkår – funded by the tramway company SL – it was founded in 1906 with 6 members, most of them employed as bus and train drivers in the city of Stockholm. Today it comprises 40 of the best professional wind players in Sweden, 4 percussionists and one double-bass player. The Swedish Wind Ensemble has its own subscription series, and additionally perform a number of high profile annual events such as such as Last Night of the Proms (a tradition since over 20 years), a summer-night performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in the main square of Stockholm's Old Town and the famous St. Lucia concert in December in the Stockholm Globe Arena.
Since 1985, the ensemble has continually worked with the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and its young conductors, offering them the opportunity to work on a regular basis with a professional orchestra.
In October 2005, Christian Lindberg performed his first concert as Chief Conductor of the Swedish Wind Ensemble.
The Swedish Wind Ensemble celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006 and is one of the oldest orchestras of its kind in the world today.
Setting its sights further afield the Swedish Wind Ensemble is intent on bringing Sweden's famous wind sound to as wide an audience as possible. In 2006, the orchestra toured in Spain and in Sweden 2007 and 2008. A tour to Tallinn, Riga and St Petersburg with Maria Eklund as a conductor is planned for 2010.
http://www.swedishwind.se/