The Distinguished Orchestra of Russia, St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra – the oldest symphony orchestra in Russia. The  Orchestra’s history which, according to foreign reviews, “is among the world’s elite and, without a doubt, historically the most important orchestra in Russia”, began on 16 July 1882 with the decree of Emperor Alexander III, which initiated the creation of the Imperial Music Choir. Transformed into the Court Orchestra at the beginning of the XX century, for the first time in Russia, the orchestra performed the symphonic poems Ein Heldenleben and Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, Mahler's First Symphony and Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy and Stravinsky’s First Symphony. A. Nikisch and R. Strauss conducted the orchestra as well as A. Glazunov, whose Festival Overture was dedicated to the orchestra. In 1917, the Court Orchestra became a State Orchestra, and was headed by S. Koussevitzky.

In 1921, the orchestra acquired the former Noble Assembly hall at its disposal and the country's first Philharmonia was opened. Unprecedented in its scale, the orchestra’s activity drew new audience to its Grand Hall. Outstanding Russian musicians underwent a rigorous test of their conducting skills with the orchestra. Such legendary Western conductors as B. Walter, F. Weingartner, H. Abendroth, O. Fried, E. Kleiber, P. Monteux and O. Klemperer; soloists V. Horowitz and S. Prokofiev performed with the orchestra. The orchestra mastered a vast contemporary repertoire. In 1918, it presented the premiere of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony (under the composers’ baton), and in 1926 – Shostakovich’s First Symphony. In 1934, the orchestra – the first in the country – was awarded the “Distinguished Orchestra of Russia” title.

1938 ushered in a half-century of the “Age of Mravinsky” – years of painstaking work that have promoted the orchestra to the row of the planet’s most famous orchestras. In 1946, the orchestra made its first trip abroad, which turned out to be a debut in the Russian symphonic performance history. It was followed by regular tours around the world, playing at the most prestigious European festivals. A unique and creative alliance formed between D. Shostakovich and E. Mravinsky, to whom the composer devoted the Eighth Symphony. The conductor and the orchestra performed five Shostakovich's symphonies for the first time. In fact, a tradition of famous scores’ authentic interpretation was born. Music of the twentieth century as a whole assumed a significant place in the orchestra’s repertoire. K. Sanderling, A. Jansons and M. Jansons were alternating as the orchestra’s second conductors; L. Stokowski, L. Maazel, Z. Mehta, K. Masur, E. Svetlanov, G. Rozhdestvensky and composers B. Britten, A. Copland, Z. Kodály, W. Lutosławski, L. Berio, K. Penderecki made their conducting appearance on the podium; the orchestra’s concerts featured V. Cliburn, G. Gould, A. Benedetti Michelangeli, I. Stern, S. Richter, E. Gilels, D. Oistrakh, E. Virsaladze, N. Petrov, G. Sokolov, V. Tretyakov, L. Kogan, N. Gutman, V. Krainev, V. Spivakov and A. Lyubimov.

Since 1988, Yuri Temirkanov has headed the orchestra. From year to year, the results of the musicians’ collaboration receive enthusiastic press reviews. “The orchestra is a Russian national treasure, conductor Yuri Temirkanov one of the best in the world” (The Washington Post, 2014). “If the St Petersburg Philharmonic’s all-Russian first Prom was a hard act to follow, its second, also under chief conductor Yuri Temirkanov, brought yet another feast of idiomatic Russian playing” (The Guardian, 2015). “This is a unique orchestra with a special, “Leningrad” sound ...” (Codalario, 2016). “The performance of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony was “the culmination of that high, Petersburg sound culture, for which the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra is famous. (...) A brilliant scherzo and a spectacular, technically perfect finale brought the audience into a total frenzy, which is completely natural: a grandiose sound fresco appeared before it, which hardly any other conductor or orchestra in the world could create” (Corriere della Sera, 2017). “No matter what was happening in Russia over the last thirty years, this orchestra has always remained in the top-ranking categories” (Seenandheard-international.com, 2019).

The orchestra’s extensive touring activity just throughout last season have included concerts at the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin, Munich, Elbe, Luxembourg Philharmonics and Frankfurt Alte Oper, the Royal Festival Hall in London, The Usher Hall of Edinburgh, The Bridgewater Hall of Manchester and The City Hall of Leeds, The Victoria Hall in Geneva, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona and the Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome, Tokyo Suntory Hall, Taipei National Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Beijing National Performing Arts Center and the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

In January 2022 Yuri Temirkanov resigned as Principal Conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, to remain the Artistic Director of both the orchestra and the St Petersburg Philharmonia – he had been occupying this position for more than two decades. Nikolay Alexeev, who has been collaborating with the Orchestra for over twenty years, has subsequently become the orchestra’s Principal Conductor.

The orchestra’s repertoire is constantly updated with new and contemporary compositions. In recent years, performances for the first time in Russia have included the First Symphony The Triumph of Heaven and fantasy Wunderbare Leiden by Borisova-Ollas, the nocturne Sur le meme accord and La nuit etoilée by Dutilleux, and the Piano Concerto Century Rolls and Shaker Loops for string orchestra by Adams, Giya Kancheli’s Letters to Friends, Widmann’s Babylon-Suite, Ligeti’s Ramifications for string orchestra and Concert românesc, Nono’s Epitaffio 2 auf Federico García Lorca for flute and chamber orchestra, Takemitsu’s Viola concerto A String Around Autumn, as well as Valery Voronov’s Symphony dedicated to the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia and Nikolay Alexeev, its world premiere was presented by the orchestra at the “Arts Square” winter festival opening in December 2024.

The orchestra's 2025/2026 concert season opens on September 25, Dmitry Shostakovich's birthday. The Suite on Verses of Michelangelo Buonarroti by Shostakovich (soloist – B. Pinkhasovich) and “Francesca da Rimini” by Tishchenko and Tchaikovsky are performed under the baton of the Philharmonic's chief conductor Nikolai Alexeev. The traditional subscription cycles – “The Distinguished Orchestra of Russia St Petersburg Philharmonic” and “The First Symphony Orchestra of Russia” include symphonic works and instrumental concertos by Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian, Beethoven, Rossini, Dvorak, Brahms, Bruch, Debussy, R. Strauss. The concerts of the cycle dedicated to Mozart’s 270th anniversary feature works by the great Austrian and his contemporaries. As part of the subscription "(Not)Familiar Shostakovich", dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Philharmonia's naming after the composer – music from films, symphonic fragments from the opera “Katerina Izmailova” and a suite from “The Bolt” ballet.

The Distinguished Orchestra will present a monographic program of Tchaikovsky's works together with the New Russia State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yuri Bashmet (soloist – B. Berezovsky).

The poster of the XXV “Arts Square” International Winter Festival includes two concerts of the Distinguished Orchestra of Russia and Nikolai Alexeev: the opening of the festival with Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto (soloist – D. Matsuev) and Brahms' Fourth Symphony, and the closing with Mahler's Second Symphony.

This season guest conductors of the orchestra feature – V. Spivakov, A. Sladkovsky, D. Liss, D. Jurowski, A. Rudin, F. Korobov, A. Solovyov, V. Valeev, P. Bubelnikov, K. Durgarian (Armenia), E. Leducq-Barôme (France), L. Krämer (Germany). The soloists are E. Virsaladze, E. Mechetina, D. Matsuev, B. Berezovsky, I. Papoyan, I. Bessonov, Y. Favorin, M. Kultyshev, P. Laul, V. Repin, K. Baráti (Hungary), P. Milyukov, N. Boriso-Glebsky, G. Kazazyan, H. Gerzmava, O. Peretyatko.

The orchestra continues its dynamic touring activities. The 2024-2025 season featured concerts in Sochi, Nalchik, Yerevan, Moscow, Yaroslavl and China. Among the touring engagements of the 2025-2026 season are the already traditional performances in Sochi and Nalchik (August 2025), concerts in Yekaterinburg (October 2025), Vietnam (November 2025), Moscow (November 2025 and January 2026).