Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has gained a wider reputation than the medium size of its home city might suggest, benefiting from the leadership of some of the 20th century's top conductors at various points in their careers. In the 2010s, the orchestra has issued a major series of recordings of mainstream symphonic repertory. The Pittsburgh Symphony was founded in 1896 by the Pittsburgh Art Society, which two years later hired Irish-born operetta composer Victor Herbert as conductor. The move ran counter to the tendency toward German conductors at the time, but the orche...