The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1923 as the first dedicated radio symphony orchestra in Germany. Its chief conductors, among them Eugen Jochum, Sergiu Celibidache, Hermann Abendroth, Rolf Kleinert and Heinz Rögner, and guest conductors such as Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter and Erich Kleiber moulded the orchestra into an ensemble with a repertoire ranging from pre-classical to modern works. Since 1956 the Berlin RSO has made guest appearances in more than twenty countries, and, in 1998, performed for the first time in China.