San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

The San Francisco Symphony, formed in San Francisco, California, United States, in 1911, is an American symphony orchestra based at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. Founded by the Musical Association, the orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1911 under first principal conductor Henry Kimball Hadley with 60 musicians, presenting works by Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Richard Wagner. The ensemble made its first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1925 and began regular radio broadcasts on The Standard Hour in 1926. Under music director Pierre Monteux, the orchestra signed with RCA Victor in 1941, producing recordings including César Franck's Symphony in D Minor. Under music director Michael Tilson Thomas, who served from 1995 to 2020, the orchestra launched its SFS Media label, completed a Gustav Mahler symphony recording cycle that earned seven Grammy Awards, and recorded Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story in 2014.