The LSO was established in 1904, as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians. Since then, generations of remarkable talents have built the Orchestra’s reputation for uncompromising quality. Today, the LSO is ranked among the world’s top orchestras, with a family of artists that includes Music Director Sir Simon Rattle; Principal Guest Conductors Gianandrea Noseda and François-Xavier Roth; Conductor Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas; Associate Artists Barbara Hannigan and André J Thomas; and, from 2023, Chief Conductor Designate Sir Antonio Pappano.
The LSO is Resident Orchestra at the Barbican in the City of London. We reach international audiences through touring and artistic residencies – including with the Aix-en-Provence Festival and Music Academy in Santa Barbara – and through digital partnerships and an extensive programme of live-streamed and on-demand online broadcasts.
Through a world-leading learning and community programme, LSO Discovery, we connect people from all walks of life to the power of great music. Based at LSO St Luke’s, our community and music education centre and a leading performance venue on Old Street, LSO Discovery’s reach extends across East London, the UK and the world through both in-person and digital activity.
The LSO is an inventive, entrepreneurial and successful creative enterprise with a history of innovation that helps to keep us relevant and contemporary. With the formation of our own recording label, LSO Live, in 1999 we pioneered a revolution in recording live orchestral music. We strive to embrace new digital technologies – having successfully moved into digital film, virtual reality, streaming, voice activation and spatial audio – and we continue to innovate with platforms such as LSO Play, whilst developing new partnerships in the fields of emerging technologies.