The Orchestra was founded in 1881 by a young Bostonian. Henry Lee Higginson, whose aim was to create a first-class "permanent" orchestra that could devote itself entirely to performances of symphonic music. He engaged the best musicians available in Europe and the U.S.A. for its personnel; one of the orchestra's first conductors was the famous Arthur Nikisch. Higginson supported the orchestra financially until 1918, when he handed the management over to a Board of Trustees.

Dr. Charles Munch.

No Government Subsidy

The annual budget of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is now over $2,000,000. Of this 90 per cent is earned by ticket sales and revenue from recording, radio, television and broadcasting fees. The total earnings are the highest of any orchestra in the U.S.A. There is no Government subsidy granted, but Bostonlans have helped support "their symphony" by forming a trust known as the "Friends of the Boston Symphony Orchestra." Being the properly and responsibility of the people it serves, the orchestra has consequently become the cultural highlight of Boston.

Always Busy

The musical life of the orchestra is possibly as full as any orchestra in the world. The winter season of 30 weeks in Symphony Hall, the orchestra's home, ends with April; and then begins, under Arthur Fiedler, the Pops season of nine weeks. There follow three weeks of free open-air concerts on the Charles River Esplanade—when the audience usually numbers 20,000 and more for each concert —and the six weeks in July and early August of the Berkshire Festival at Tanglewood in Lenox. Massachusetts, visitors to last year's festival numbered more than 182 000.

In 1952, the Boston Symphony Orchestra toured Europe for the first time; on the second European tour in 1956 it became the first 'American orchestra ever to play in the U.S.S.R., with concerts in both Lenigrad and Moscow.

Distinguished Alsatian

Five years under Pierre Monteux (1919-1924) and 25 under Serge Koussevitzky (1924-1949) developed the orchestra into one of the finest in the world. Boston was naturally apprehensive about the choice of Koussevitzky's successor. However, since 1949 Charles Munch has further enhanced the Boston's reputation.

An accurate and unusual prediction came from the American composer and critic Virgil Thomson in 1930, after hearing and seeing Munch in the conducting role. "Munch would be the kind of conductor who could take over the Boston Orchestra when the time came for Koussevitzky to retire." Nearly 20 years later this happened.