Boston Symphony Orchestra

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About Boston Symphony Orchestra

One of America’s most respected symphonies, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has a massive legacy that goes back to 1881, when it was first bankrolled by business magnate and philanthropist Henry Lee Higginson, with George Henschel as its first conductor. The longest-serving and most influential director/conductor of the orchestra’s first half century was Serge Koussevitzky, from 1924 to 1949. He initiated the practices of performing for live radio broadcast and maintaining an outdoor summer residency at Tanglewood in the Berkshires (both of which continue to this day) and oversaw commissions and premieres by important modern composers including Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Gershwin. His successor, Charles Münch, installed the first female principal in a top-tier American symphony, flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer, in 1952. The BSO’s long, rich history of recordings began in 1917 and includes classic performances of works by Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Sibelius and many more, as well as film soundtracks including Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List.

ORIGIN
Boston, MA, United States
FORMED
1881
GENRE
Classical

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