São Paulo Symphony Orchestra

Since its first concert in 1954, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra [Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo] – Osesp has become an integral part of São Paulo and Brazilian culture, promoting cultural and social transformation. Osesp plays over a hundred concerts every season for nearly 150,000 people at its own concert hall, Sala São Paulo, which was listed in 2015 by The Guardian as one of the 10 best music halls in the world.

In 2024, Osesp celebrates its 70th anniversary through a series of special initiatives, led by its Music Director and Principal Conductor Thierry Fischer. The festive year kicks off with the performance and recording of seven specially commissioned 10-minute pieces — one for each decade of the Orchestra’s life — by Andrew Norman, Clarice Assad, Esteban Benzecry, Felipe Lara, Heinz Holliger, Unsuk Chin, and the winner of the Latin American Women Composers Competition, held by Osesp Foundation. The Orchestra and Fischer are also embarking on international tours in Europe, China, and across Brazil. And following on from 2023, when Osesp, led by Fischer, began recording Mahler’s complete symphony cycle in spatial audio, 2024 features the release of the Third Symphony as well as the recording of the First and Second Symphonies of the Austro-Bohemian composer.

Having toured Latin America, The United States, Europe, China, and Brazil, the Orchestra, conducted by former Music Director Marin Alsop, appeared in major European Summer festivals and concert halls in 2016. The group toured China in 2019, becoming the first Latin American professional orchestra to perform in that country, and made its debut at Carnegie Hall, New York, in October 2022, playing two different programs. In the first concert, it played as a guest orchestra in the official subscription series of that historical venue. In the second event, it performed the acclaimed “Floresta Villa-Lobos” [The Amazon Concert], a tribute to Brazilian culture and nature consisting of 75 minutes of music with no intermission combined with an immersive video showcasing the riches of the country's fauna and flora.

Osesp has released over 100 albums, and its concerts are regularly broadcast on television and radio, as well as livestreamed weekly on its YouTube channel. Since 2012, the Orchestra, in partnership with Naxos, develops an ambitious recording project that envisages a series of albums devoted to Brazilian music, including Heitor Villa-Lobos's complete symphonies recorded under the baton of Isaac Karabtchevsky. The project also encompasses the publication of critical editions of the recorded scores by Osesp Publishing House, whose catalogue comprises over 200 titles.

The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra runs a large educational and outreach program for over 25,000 children and teenagers every season. It has its own children, youth, and symphonic choirs, as well as a Music Academy, offering professional guidance to young orchestral musicians, singers, and conductors.