He became second conductor of the Netherlands Radio Union Orchestra in 1955. He then became chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in 1957. On 7 November 1956 the famous conductor Carlo Maria Giulini was not able to conduct a concert of the Concertgebouw Orchestra so the young Bernard Haitink conducted instead. This helped him to become famous. Three years later he became a conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and he stayed with them for a quarter of a century. In 1963 he became the main conductor of that orchestra, and in 1999 they gave him the title of honorary conductor.