Editing Philadelphia Orchestra (section)

== History ==

The Philadelphia Orchestra gave its first concert on November 16, 1900, at the Academy of Music under conductor Fritz Scheel. The orchestra developed rapidly under Scheel and his successor Carl Pohlig, establishing itself as a significant American orchestra. However, the transformative era began with Leopold Stokowski's appointment as music director in 1912.<ref name="orchestra"/>

Stokowski led the orchestra for nearly three decades (1912-1941), developing the "Philadelphia Sound" and building international reputation. His innovations included free bowing for strings (allowing players to bow independently rather than in unison), revised seating arrangements, and attention to acoustic effects that produced the orchestra's distinctive sonority. Stokowski also pioneered orchestra recording, creating some of the most influential classical recordings of the early electrical era.<ref name="orchestra"/>

Eugene Ormandy succeeded Stokowski and led the orchestra for an remarkable 44 years (1936-1980, overlapping and then succeeding Stokowski). Ormandy refined and perpetuated the Philadelphia Sound, making hundreds of recordings that brought the orchestra into homes worldwide. The Ormandy era established Philadelphia among the "Big Five" American orchestras alongside New York, Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland.<ref name="orchestra"/>

Subsequent music directors including Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (current) have maintained excellence while adapting to changing audiences and financial realities. The orchestra's 2011 bankruptcy filing, from which it emerged successfully, reflected challenges facing orchestras nationally.<ref name="orchestra"/>