Odense a new director each year who is charged with creating the "volume" of the year with a set of plays and performers. It also puts on other cultural entertainment including concerts, debates, lectures and poetry. Odense Symphony Orchestra (Odense Symfoniorkester), one of Denmark's five regional orchestras, was formally established in 1946. The orchestra is based in Odense Concert Hall, which was inaugurated in 1982. Most of the orchestra’s concerts are given in the Carl Nielsen Hall, a seating capacity of 1,212 and a large 46-stops organ built by Marcussen & Son. First established in 1948, Funen Opera ("Den Fynske Opera")
Odense boundaries were redefined in 1970. As a result, the population declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s, falling to 136,646 in 1981. It began climbing again in the late 1980s, and steadily grew to 144,518 in 1996 and 145,554 in 2004. In 2010 Odense had a population of 166,305 people. As of 2017 it had a population of 176,683. Odense Municipality is the administrative unit which covers not only the city of Odense but surrounding suburbs and villages. Odense City Council consists of 29 members, including a mayor. The former mayor of Odense, Anker Boye, is a member of the