Johannes Hendrikus Philip Kindler (January 8, 1892 – August 30, 1949) was a Dutch American cellist and conductor who founded the National Symphony Orchestra.

He stayed in Philadelphia until 1920 when he returned to Europe (Senlis, France), married his wife Alice (there were three children)[2] and resumed his solo career, both as a concerto soloist under such conductors as Mengelberg, Monteux and Reiner, and collaborating in chamber music recitals with Ravel and Rachmaninov.

He gave first performances of works by Ravel and Schoenberg, and Ferruccio Busoni dedicated an arrangement of Bach's Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue for cello and piano to him.

He stayed with the NSO for many years and in David Ewen's Dictators of the Baton (1948) the author wrote: "Kindler may not rise to those empyrean heights to which some other conductors may soar, but he is a self-respecting and respected musician who does justice to the great music he performs, and serves his art with humility."

However, post-war conditions at the National Symphony Orchestra had deteriorated, as had Kindler's health, so he resigned on 30 November 1948 and gave his farewell concert the following March.

This special collection includes over 900 titles and is available for use, free of charge, by orchestras and ensembles in the Washington Metropolitan region.

These were recorded alongside more staple orchestral fare, such as Richard Strauss's Don Juan, Bedřich Smetana's Vltava, and Johannes Brahms' 3rd Symphony which was praised for its "vitality and the glowing brilliance of the orchestra's execution.