Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date back as far as 1923, the Orchestra was officially founded in 1945 and played its first concert as the Atlanta Youth Symphony under the direction of Henry Sopkin. The organization changed to its current name in 1947 and soon began attracting well known soloists. In 1967, with the departure of Sopkin, Robert Shaw became the Music Director, and a year later the orchestra became full-time. In 1988, Yoel Levi became Music Director and Principal Conductor. Under him, the Orchestra played at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

The orchestra toured Europe under Yoel Levi in 1991. In 2006 the orchestra and its chamber chorus, under Robert Spano, served as the resident ensemble for California's Ojai Festival.

In 2008 the ASO opened its new 12,000-seat Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in north Fulton County in the town of Alpharetta, some 22 miles north of Atlanta, where it presents concerts of its own as well as those by various pops groups. With a budget expected to increase to US $50 million with the completion of its new Amphitheatre, the ASO has become one of the six or seven largest orchestras in America.

On February 5, 2014, the ASO announced that Joseph Young would take over as Assistant Conductor, starting June 1, 2014.

Jane Little, who debuted as a double bassist in Atlanta on February. 4, 1945, at the age of 16. She remained a member of the orchestra for the rest of her life, dying on May 15, 2016 a few hours after collapsing during a performance of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. She was said to be the longest tenured orchestra musician in the world. She was 87. Wikipedia