Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the world’s great orchestras. Marking its 135th season in 2025/26, the ensemble performs more than 150 concerts annually, in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago and each summer at the Ravinia Festival. Since the beginning of its history, the ensemble has regularly toured domestically, and since 1892 has undertaken 65 international tours, performing in 30 countries on five continents.
In April 2024, Klaus Mäkelä was named the orchestra’s 11th music director and will begin an initial five-year tenure as Zell Music Director in the 2027/28 season. Riccardo Muti, the orchestra’s 10th music director, became music director emeritus for life at the beginning of the 2023/24 season. Previous music directors have included Fritz Reiner, Sir Georg Solti, and Daniel Barenboim; Bernard Haitink served as principal conductor; and Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, and Pierre Boulez held tenures as principal guest conductors.
In addition to the Orchestra’s live concert performances, patrons around the world enjoy the CSO’s syndicated radio broadcasts and award-winning commercial recordings. Since 1916, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (founded during the 1957/58 season) have amassed an extensive discography that has earned 65 Grammy awards from the Recording Academy.
