Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia is an American chamber orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal concert venue is the Perelman Theater of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, of which the orchestra is a founding resident company. The orchestra's current music director is Dirk Brossé, since 2010. The orchestra's current executive director is Bill Rhoads, since September 2016.

In 1963, Marc Mostovoy had the idea of establishing a chamber orchestra in Philadelphia to collaborate on recording with Marcel Tabuteau, a retired oboist with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Tabuteau expressed enthusiasm for Mostovoy's idea, but died before the recording collaboration could occur with Mostovoy and the orchestra. Continuing this concept of a new chamber orchestra for Philadelphia, and with an initial name of the Wynnefield Concerto Orchestra, Mostovoy formally founded the orchestra under the new name Concerto Soloists 16, in 1964. In its early years, the orchestra's primary performing venue was the Harrison Auditorium of the University of Pennsylvania. Along with the initial plans for recording with Tabuteau, Mostovoy had also intended this chamber orchestra to provide performance opportunities to young professional musicians emerging from the Curtis Institute of Music, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, the New School of Music, and the Philadelphia Musical Academy. One specialist feature of this orchestra was to have orchestra musicians stand during performance where appropriate, in a nod to earlier baroque and classical era traditions.

The orchestra has a core roster of 33 musicians. The ensemble has had several names over its history, which have included:

Renovations to the Harrison Auditorium forced the orchestra to discontinue concerts at the University of Pennsylvania. The orchestra continued to perform around Philadelphia, including service as the accompanying orchestra for baroque opera, in 17 different venues. These venues included the Walnut Street Theatre, where the orchestra had residence from 1975 to 1983, and again from 1990 to 1996. In 2000, the orchestra changed its name to The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and took up permanent residence at the Perelman Theater of the Kimmel Center upon the formal opening of the center.

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