The Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was the first orchestra in Italy to devote itself exclusively to symphonic repertoire, giving premieres of major masterpieces of the 20th century such as Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome. Founded in 1908, the Orchestra has been conducted by some of the major musical figures of the 20th century: from Mahler, Strauss, Sibelius, Stravinskij, Toscanini, Mengelberg, Furtwängler, De Sabata, Karajan, Solti, Giulini, Carlos Kleiber and Claudio Abbado to the most impressive performers of our day including Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Kurt Masur and Christian Thielemann. Leonard Bernstein was the Honorary President from 1983 until 1990, during which time the likes of Lorin Maazel, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Georges Prêtre and Yuri Temirkanov regularly conducted the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia.