Phoenix Symphony

Arizona's only full-time professional orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony is an American ensemble based in Phoenix that performs most of its concerts at Phoenix Symphony Hall, across a season running from October to May. It began in 1947 as a loose group of amateur players giving four concerts a year. Faculty from Arizona State University later joined, and the orchestra moved from part-time to full-time status in 1983.

Recording came under James Sedares, who led the orchestra from 1989 to 1995 and made discs for KOCH International Classics, and later under Michael Christie, music director from 2005 to 2013, whose sessions were for Naxos Records. In February 2014 the orchestra named Tito Muñoz its 11th music director after two guest appearances. The COVID-19 pandemic forced furloughs in March 2020 and, in August 2020, the cancellation of its 2020–2021 season, the first by a US orchestra to do so. Performances resumed for 2021–2022. In March 2026 Paolo Bortolameolli was appointed as Muñoz's successor, effective 2027–2028. In October 2026 the board suspended the 2026–2027 season from 2 November, weeks after its opening concert, citing financial problems that president and chief executive Peter Kjome says have built up for many years.