Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

The Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, now Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, has been a part of the city's cultural life since its founding in 1902 as the Stockholm Concert Society. The orchestra is fully international in its orientation, and indeed, except for founder-organizer Tor Aulin, it has never had a Swedish-born conductor. The Stockholm Concert Society, originally "intended primarily for workers," gave its first concert on October 21, 1902. The group's name was changed to the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957. Conductors of the Stockholm Philharmonic all had substantial international careers. In 1992, when patronage from Sweden's royal family began, the orchestra took on its current name, Kungliga Filharmoniska Orkestern (or Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra).