Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest orchestra in the United States and one of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, the BSO performs most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at Tanglewood. It has an offshoot organization, The Boston Pops, founded in 1885 also by Higginson to perform "concerts of a lighter kind of music." The Pops has its own schedule and musical director, and consists mostly of musicians from the ranks of the BSO.
Since its founding, the orchestra has had 17 music directors, including George Henschel, Serge Koussevitzky, Henri Rabaud, Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch, Erich Leinsdorf, William Steinberg and James Levine. Andris Nelsons is the current music director of the BSO. Seiji Ozawa had held the title of BSO music director laureate. Bernard Haitink had held the title of principal guest conductor of the BSO from 1995 to 2004, then conductor emeritus until his death in 2021. The orchestra has made gramophone recordings since 1917 and has occasionally played on soundtrack recordings for films, including Schindler's List.
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