The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO; ) is a Malaysian orchestra based in Kuala Lumpur. The orchestra is resident at the Petronas Philharmonic Hall (Dewan Filharmonik Petronas). It is one of Asia's leading orchestras and is praised for its musical qualities. The patron of the MPO is Tun Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wife of the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, who was the prime minister when the orchestra was founded in 1997. The orchestra is funded primarily through Petronas, a Malaysian oil and gas company. Background Founded in 1997, the MPO made its debut concert on 17 August 1998 under the direction of its first music director and founder, Kees Bakels. In July 2003, Bakels announced his intention to stand down as music director for health reasons. In September 2003, the MPO appointed James Judd to succeed Bakels, effective with the 2004–2005 season. However, on 14 June 2004, the MPO issued a press announcement that "all contractual relationships between MPO and Mr. Judd have ceased with effect from 7 April 2004", without a formal explanation, with the result that Judd never took up the MPO post. Bakels subsequently remained as MPO music director through the end of the 2004–2005 season. Bakels subsequently took the title of conductor laureate of the MPO. In November 2004, Matthias Bamert was named the new MPO's principal conductor, starting from August 2005. Bamert held the post until the end of the 2007–2008 season. Claus Peter Flor was the MPO's music director, starting from August 2008, with an initial contract of 3 years. Flor continued as music director until the end of the 2013–2014 season. Fabio Mechetti then served as MPO principal conductor for the 2014–2015 season, and stood down from the post in October 2015. Dato' Seri Ooi Chean See was the founding Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1998 until 2006. The position remained vacant until Ciarán McAuley held the position from 2014 to 2016. Naohisa Furusawa, a member of the MPO double bass section since January 2003, was named Resident Conductor in 2016. Gerard Salonga was appointed as an additional Resident Conductor in 2018. In 2018, Jun Märkl first guest-conducted the MPO. He returned for further guest-conducting engagements twice in 2019, and in March 2020. In December 2020, the MPO announced the appointment of Märkl as its next music director, effective with the 2021 season. Recordings To date, the