Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv Philharmonic

The Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in Ukraine.

In 1811 the conductor Lipiński initiated the creation the first symphony orchestra in Lviv (then a city in the Austrian Empire). The Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National was founded on 27 September 1902. The orchestra’s first conductor was Ludvík Vítězslav Čelanský, who gathered a group of 68 people, the vast majority of whom were graduates of the Prague Conservatory. Following the 1903 season, when the orchestra toured Poland, the orchestra was disbanded. For a long time, the Lviv Philharmonic did not have its own orchestra. Its director Leopold Litinsky made an attempt to create such a group from among the best musicians of military orchestras of several local infantry regiments, which continued the concert activities of the Philharmonic of 1903.

During 1919 to 1939, the symphony orchestra of the GMT Conservatory remained practically the only permanent orchestra in Lviv, which was during that period the Second Polish Republic's third-most populous city. With the arrival of the Soviets in December 1939 came the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, which planned to create a new symphony orchestra in Lviv. The Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv State Regional Philharmonic continued to perform concerts until the German occupation of the city (1941–1944), during which time it was disbanded. It was reformed after the Soviets retook the city in August 1944.

Post-war conductors have included Yuriy Lutsiv, Demyan Pelekhaty, and Ivan Yuzyuk. The conductors are currently Marko Komonko and Mykola Gavyuk. The orchestra has toured around the world, and is a regular participant in international festivals such as the International Festival of Musical Art Virtuoso.