1946
Royal Charter granted to Arts Council of Great Britain
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1946
The Third Programme - later BBC Radio 3 - starts broadcasting
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1947
First Edinburgh International Festival
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1948
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
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1949
London Mozart Players, the UK’s longest established chamber orchestra
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1950
English National Ballet
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1951
Royal Festival Hall opens as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations
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1953
Friday Night is Music Night series begins, now the world's longest running live orchestral music programme on radio, featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra
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1958
Academy of St Martin in the Fields founded by Sir Neville Marriner
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1958
Northern Sinfonia
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1962
Scottish Opera
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1963
LSO first British orchestra to visit Japan
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1963
Philharmonia first tour of Latin America by a British orchestra
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1966
Ulster Orchestra
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1967
Northern Chamber Orchestra
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1967
Snape Maltings opened by HM The Queen
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1968
London Sinfonietta
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1968
Inaugural Glyndebourne Tour
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1968
Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra founded by Sir John Eliot Gardiner
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1969
Western Theatre Ballet relocates to Glasgow and becomes the Scottish Ballet
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1969
Scottish Ensemble
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1969
Northern Ballet
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1971
City of London Sinfonia
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1972
Manchester Camerata
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1973
Academy of Ancient Music
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1973
The English Concert
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1973
LPO first Western orchestra to tour to China
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1974
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
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1976
European Community Youth Orchestra (later European Union Youth Orchestra), the only orchestra in the world to have been formed through a vote in the European Parliament, founded to represent every EU member state
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1977
Star Wars is released, with a score by John Williams recorded by the LSO. Goes on to win three Grammy Awards in 1978
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1977
Opera North
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1978
Poole Lighthouse opens, home of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
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1978
National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain
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1979
The Queen’s Hall opened by HM The Queen, the year-round Edinburgh performance home of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
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1979
The Sixteen
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1979
National Youth Orchestras of Scotland
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1980
CBSO appoints twenty-five-year-old Simon Rattle as its Principal Conductor
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1980
The Hanover Band
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1980
WNO first British opera company to visit East Germany
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1980
Orchestra of the Scottish Opera founded
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1981
RPO’s Hooked on Classics becomes the top-selling classical record of all time, selling over 10 million copies worldwide
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1981
London Handel Orchestra
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1981
Chamber Orchestra of Europe founded by ex-members of the European Community Youth Orchestra
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1982
Gabrieli Consort and Players
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1982
Barbican Centre opens, with resident orchestra the London Symphony Orchestra and associate orchestra BBC Symphony Orchestra
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1982
St David’s Hall, with BBC National Orchestra of Wales as resident orchestra
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1982
Sinfonia Viva, the orchestra of the East Midlands
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1982
First SCO Fireworks Concert during the Edinburgh International Festival
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1982
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is chosen to record the soundtrack for Amadeus. The film is nominated for eleven Academy Awards©, and wins eight including Best Picture. The soundtrack to Amadeus has sold over 6.5 million copies to date and received 13 Gold Discs, making it one of the most popular classical music recordings of all time.
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1983
Gillian Moore MBE joins London Sinfonietta as the UK’s first full-time orchestra Education Officer
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1986
RPO becomes the first UK orchestra to create and own a record label.
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1986
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
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1987
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
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1990
Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
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1990
Sinfonia Verdi
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1990
Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet relocates to Birmingham and becomes Birmingham Royal Ballet
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1991
Symphony Hall Birmingham opens, providing a home for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
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1992
Britten Sinfonia
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7 September 1992
Classic FM first broadcast
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1993
Academy of St Martin in the Fields becomes the first orchestra to be honoured with the Queen's Award for Export Achievement
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1994
The Anvil, Basingstoke
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1995
Dunedin Consort
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1995
Orchestra of the Swan, based in Stratford
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1996
Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, home of the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and Manchester Camerata
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1996
Sinfonia Cymru
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1997
Belfast Waterfront, with Ulster Orchestra as resident orchestra
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1997
Classical Opera
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1998
CBSO Centre, the CBSO’s purpose-built ‘home’, incorporating a multi-use auditorium, rehearsal studio and concert venue
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2000
LSO launches own label LSO Live, the first classical label to make its entire catalogue available for download
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2000
Bath Philharmonia
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2001
BBC Concert Orchestra records the Emmy and BAFTA award winning TV soundtrack for Blue Planet, sold to over 50 countries
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2001
Philharmonia first ever recording for a video game soundtrack with the recording of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for EA Games
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2001
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic first UK orchestra to enter into partnership with Classic FM as the station’s ‘Orchestra in North West England'
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2002
Southbank Sinfonia
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2002
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra appointed as the first ever Orchestra in Residence at the University of Oxford
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2002
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra appoints Marin Alsop as Principal Conductor, first woman at a British symphony orchestra
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2004
Sage Gateshead including resident orchestra Royal Northern Sinfonia
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2004
WNO moves into the newly opened Wales Millennium Centre
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2004
RPO becomes resident orchestra at the newly opened Cadogan Hall
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2004
English National Opera first opera company to perform at Glastonbury
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2005
Aurora Orchestra
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2005
Live performances of Beethoven's first five symphonies, broadcast as part of The Beethoven Experience on BBC Radio 3, amass an incredible 657,399 download requests
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2005
BBC National Orchestra of Wales becomes the Doctor Who house band
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2005
Perth Concert Hall
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2006
City Halls Glasgow re-opens, home to BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
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2007
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performs first ever live concert on Second Life
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2007
Glyndebourne became the first UK opera house to screen its productions in cinemas
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2007
The Hallé performs in the first Manchester International Festival
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2008
London Contemporary Orchestra
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2008
Kings Place opens, home to London Sinfonietta and the OAE
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2008
Sistema Scotland launches with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as main performance partner
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2009
Red Note Ensemble
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2009
Scottish Chamber Orchestra becomes first Western orchestra to make a multidate tour of India
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2009
Philharmonia’s new Digital Team produces a unique immersive installation, RE-RITE, funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation
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2009
HRH Prince Charles, patron of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales opens the state of the art recording studio and concert hall in Cardiff Bay, BBC Hoddinott Hall
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2009
Britten Sinfonia first orchestra to perform at Latitude Festival
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2010
Glyndebourne becomes first UK opera house to stream its work online
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2010
ROH opens High House Production Park in Thurrock
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2011
BBC Philharmonic moves to new dedicated studio at Media City, Salford Quays
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2011
British ParaOrchestra, the world’s first large-scale professional ensemble of disabled musicians
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2011
Multi-Story Orchestra
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2012
AAM and LPO take part in Her Majesty The Queen's Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant in front of a live and televised audience of millions
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2012
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain awarded Queen’s Medal for Music
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2012
LSO performs with Sir Simon Rattle and Rowan Atkinson in a segment of the Olympic Opening Ceremony in front of an audience of 4 billion while LPO records all 205 national anthems for medal and welcoming ceremonies
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2012
12 Ensemble
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2013
Saffron Hall opens in Saffron Walden with resident orchestra Britten Sinfonia
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2013
Milton Court Concert Hall at Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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2014
BBC Ten Pieces opening up the world of classical music to 7-14 year-olds across the UK and inspiring them to develop their own creative responses to the music
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2014
RSNO perform the opening gala concert for the 2014 Ryder Cup with headliners Nile Rodgers and Chic, Midge Ure and Texas, at the then new SSE Hydro venue in Glasgow, attended by the European and US teams and 10,000 music fans
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2015
RSNO Centre
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2015
BBC National Orchestra of Wales embarks on its most ambitious international tour to-date: a community residency celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, followed by performances across South America
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2015
Chineke! Foundation, Europe’s first majority-BME orchestra, founded by Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE
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2017
WNO first company to be invited to perform at the new Opera House in Dubai and BBC Symphony Orchestra performs at inaugural Proms Dubai Festival
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2017
RPO first orchestra to use EnCue, a real-time programme app
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