Founded in 1842 as Philharmonic Society of New York, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States.
Complete list of Music Directors:
As Philharmonic Society of New York
• Ureli Corelli Hill, Henry Timm, Denis Etienne, William Alpers, George Loder, Louis Wiegers and Alfred Boucher (1842–1849)
• Theodore Eisfeld (1849–1854) / Theodore Eisfeld & Henry Timm (1854–1855)
• Carl Bergmann (1855–1856, 1858–1859, 1865–1876)
• Theodore Eisfeld (1856–1858) / Carl Bergmann & Theodore Eisfeld (1859–1865)
• Leopold Damrosch (1876–1877)
• Theodore Thomas (4) (1877–1878, 1879–1891)
• Adolf Neuendorff (1878–1879)
• Anton Seidl (1891–1898)
• Emil Paur (1898–1902)
• Walter Damrosch (1902–1903)
• Vasily Ilyich Safonov (1906–1909)
• Gustav Mahler (1909–1911)
• Josef Stránský (1911–1923)
• Willem Mengelberg (1922–1930)
As artist
• Arturo Toscanini (1928–1936)
• Sir John Barbirolli (1936–1941)
• Artur Rodziński (1943–1947)
• Bruno Walter (music advisor, 1947–1949)
• Leopold Stokowski (co-principal conductor, 1949–1950)
• Dimitri Mitropoulos (1949–1958)
As New York Philharmonic
• Leonard Bernstein (1958–1969) [named Laureate Conductor in 1969]
• George Szell (music advisor, 1969–1970)
• Pierre Boulez (1971–1977)
• Zubin Mehta (1978–1991)
• Kurt Masur (1991–2002) [named Music Director Emeritus in 2002]
• Lorin Maazel (2002–2009)
• Alan Gilbert (2) (2009–2017)
• Jaap van Zweden (2018–2024)
• Gustavo Dudamel (designate, effective 2026)
The orchestra was founded in 1842 by local musicians and originally called the Philharmonic Society of New York. In 1909, to ensure the financial stability of the Philharmonic, the orchestra's organization was changed from a musician-operated cooperative to a corporate management structure. In 1921 the Philharmonic merged with New York's National Symphony Orchestra (no relation to the present Washington, D.C. National Symphony Orchestra). In 1928 the New York Philharmonic's merged with the New York Symphony Orchestra Society. In 1957 the name of the orchestra was changed to its current name: "The New York Philharmonic Orchestra." In 1962, the orchestra moved from Carnegie Hall to its current home at Philharmonic Hall, subsequently known as Avery Fisher Hall from 1973-2015, and now named David Geffen Hall.
The last concert as artist (P-SONY) was on May 12, 1957
The first concert as New York Philharmonic (NYP) was on October 12, 1957, coinciding with Leonard Bernstein becoming conductor.
The legal entity behind the orchestra is called The Philharmonic-Symphony Society Of New York, Inc..
