Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

As the fifth oldest orchestra in the United States, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has a legacy of fine music making as reflected in its performances in historic Music Hall, recordings, and international tours. It represents the evolution of 200 years of music making in the city of Cincinnati, in southwestern Ohio. After the formation of several orchestras between 1825 and 1872, the Cincinnati Orchestra Association was founded by the wife of the future U.S. President William Howard Taft in 1893. The CSO gave its first concerts in 1895 at Pike's Opera house, and a year later moved to Music Hall. The first conductor was Frank Van der Stucken, a Texas-born musician of Dutch ancestry, who served until 1907. In the early years, the...