Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra has been Central Florida’s full time professional orchestra since 1993, filling a gap in a region that, for a city of Orlando’s size, went without a dedicated resident symphony for longer than you might expect. Under Music Director Eric Jacobsen, the orchestra now draws musicians from around the world and presents more than 170 live concerts a year across a season built from several distinct series, including a Classics Series for traditional symphonic programming, a Pops Series for more crossover fare, a Focus Series for smaller scale performances, and a Symphony Storytime Series aimed squarely at younger audiences and their families.

Most of the orchestra’s marquee performances now happen at Steinmetz Hall inside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, a room built specifically with acoustics in mind, which has given the Phil a genuinely high end venue to match its playing. That’s a meaningful upgrade for a regional orchestra, since acoustically serious concert halls of that caliber are rare outside a handful of major American cities. Guest soloists have included major names in classical music, reflecting the level the orchestra has reached since its founding just over thirty years ago as an independent, self standing ensemble rather than an offshoot of another organization.

Beyond the concert hall, the Phil runs a substantial education and outreach arm, reaching more than 70,000 children, youth, and families each year through school programs and free community concerts held around the region. That community focus is baked into how the organization operates day to day. As a nonprofit, it’s funded in part by United Arts of Central Florida along with state and national arts funding sources, and its administrative offices and box office both run out of a building on North Bumby Avenue with regular weekday hours, separate from Steinmetz Hall where most concerts take place.

What makes the Phil worth knowing about if you’re not already a regular concertgoer is that it’s an independent nonprofit ensemble rather than a touring company or a satellite of a national organization. It’s Orlando’s own orchestra, built up over three decades into an outfit that can fill a hall like Steinmetz with serious classical programming while also running a Pops series that welcomes people who’ve never been to a symphony concert before in their lives. If classical music has always felt a little inaccessible or formal, the Phil’s mixed programming and heavy community outreach are specifically designed to lower that barrier for newcomers. Subscription packages are available for people who want to commit to a full series across the season, and single tickets are sold show by show for anyone who’d rather test out one concert before deciding whether the orchestra is for them.