Founded in 1904, the London Symphony Orchestra was this country's first independent, self-governing orchestra. It soon became a limited company, owned and managed by the players.

Hans Richter was the first in a long line of distinguished conductors to be associated with the LSO, and the Orchestra also formed connections with many of the country's foremost composers, including a close and enduring relationship with Sir Edward Elgar.

The LSO has always attracted players of top quality: founding Principals were known as 'God's own'. In recent years the introduction of the 'joint Principal' scheme has encouraged musicians of the highest calibre to bring their skills to the Orchestra whilst giving them the flexibility to maintain their own solo and chamber careers.

The Orchestra's pioneering spirit was strong even in the early years - it was the first British orchestra to travel abroad when it visited Paris in 1906 and later became the first to visit America (1912), Israel (1960) and Japan (1963). In 1966 the Orchestra was invited to take up a biennial residency at the Florida International Festival and seven years later it was the first British orchestra to be invited to appear at the prestigious Salzburg Festival. In 1982 the LSO took up residency in the new Barbican Centre where it was privileged to have at last found a home base in London.

Today the LSO tours around the globe with regular visits to Europe, Japan and the USA. It is the only British orchestra to hold an annual residency at the Lincoln Center, New York, where every year it presents one of its major artistic events, first performed in London. In April 2002 New York saw the LSO's celebration for Mstislav Rostropovich's 75th birthday, the focus for the Orchestra's fifth New York residency.

After nearly 90 years of making recordings, the LSO launched its own CD label, LSO Live, in 2000. LSO Live uses the latest high-definition technology to record the Orchestra's finest concerts, capturing the energy and emotion that is often missing in studio recordings. The label's releases include critically acclaimed performances with Sir Colin Davis and Andrй Previn. Berlioz's Les Troyens, which was released in Summer 2001 has become one of the fastest-selling opera recordings ever in the UK, and won two Grammy Awards (Best Opera; Best Classical Recording) in February 2002. Other releases include Elgar's symphonies conducted by Sir Colin Davis and jazz legend Dave Brubeck's 80th birthday concert with the LSO. Future releases include symphonies by Bruckner conducted by Sir Colin Davis and recordings with Mstislav Rostropovich and Bernard Haitink.

In addition, the LSO's recently agreed partnership with andante.com means that many of the LSO's older recordings will be re-released on the andante label, which aims to preserve the heritage of recordings and broadcasts of the 20th century. Andante will release up to 25 anthologies of three or four CDs, retracing the major historic recordings of the LSO, accompanied by specially commissioned CD notes.

Other initiatives that will ensure that the LSO is seen and heard by a far wider audience than ever before include the Barbican's new system of remote-controlled, lightweight television cameras that will enable high quality images of concerts for use on video and television. The BBC is collaborating with the Barbican on this scheme.