London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra
	Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Hall, June 2011
Founded	1904
Concert hall	Barbican Centre
Music director	Sir Simon Rattle
Website	www.lso.co.uk

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British orchestra. It is one of the most famous orchestras of the world. The orchestra is based in London's Barbican Centre. They often tour to many other countries. The LSO became the first British orchestra to play overseas when it went to Paris in 1906.

The LSO started in 1904. Most of the players had been members of Henry Wood's Queen's Hall orchestra. They left that orchestra when Wood made a rule that they were not allowed to send deputies to rehearsals or concerts. The LSO was set up as an organization that governed itself. This means that the members organize everything. They decide things such as how much they are paid and who can be a member of the orchestra.

The LSO gave its first concert on 9 June 1904. Hans Richter was the conductor. He was principal (main) conductor until 1911, when Edward Elgar took over for a year. Some of the most famous conductors in the world have conducted the orchestra. Since January 2007, Valery Gergiev has been the LSO's Principal Conductor. André Previn is the Conductor Laureate (Honorary conductor). In 2006, Daniel Harding became the co-principal guest conductor with Michael Tilson Thomas. Richard Hickox is the Associate Guest Conductor of the LSO. The leader of the orchestra is Gordan Nikolitch.

The LSO players nearly died in 1912 as they were sail on the RMS Titanic for a concert in New York. They changed the booking at the last minute. They did tour the United States and Canada that year. They were the first British orchestra to do so.

In 1966, the London Symphony Chorus (LSC) was formed to join the LSO for works with choirs.

For many years, the LSO did not allow women to become members. They thought the sound would not be as good.

London Symphony Orchestra Media

Hans Richter, first conductor of the LSO
Willem Mengelberg (1871 – 1951), Dutch conductor, holding The New York Times
The Royal Festival Hall: the LSO and LPO battled each other for residency in 1951
Pierre Monteux, conductor of the Ballets Russes (Photo by Le Monde Musical)The original image has been cropped and converted to grayscale with Photoshop Elements 4.
Henry Wood Hall, acquired and converted by the LSO and the LPO in the 1970s
Leonard Bernstein
Sir Colin Davis by wikipedia user urregoluis