The National Symphony Orchestra continues the symphonic tradition initiated in 1910 by Guillermo M. Tomás, the Havana Symphony Orchestra in 1922, conducted by Gonzalo Roig, and the Philharmonic Orchestra in 1924, conducted by the Spaniard Pedro Sanjuán Nortes. It gave its first concert on November 11, 1960, conducted by one of its principal conductors, Enrique González Mántici (the other being Manuel Duchesne Cuzán), at the Auditorium Theater (Calzada Esq. a C, El Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana). In 1994, Iván del Prado was appointed assistant conductor. The current president of the Cuban National Philharmonic is guitarist and composer Leo Brouwer, and Enrique Pérez Mesa is the principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra.

The National Symphony Orchestra was founded in Havana in 1959, a process intended to provide definitive economic and social stability to Cuba’s cultural institutions. In October of that same year, the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba (OSNC) was established as the governing body of the current Cuban National Philharmonic.

On November 11, 1960, under the direction of Enrique González Mántici, the National Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert at the Amadeo Roldán Auditorium Theater (Calzada esq. a C, El Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana City), which is currently the venue for its main performances.

Since its creation, the OSNC has carried out significant work in promoting Cuban and Latin American music, in addition to encompassing an immense symphonic and chamber repertoire ranging from Baroque to modern music.

They have performed in various countries around the world, including Russia, Poland, the former Yugoslavia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Martinique, and Guadeloupe. They have given over two thousand concerts and have consolidated their core lines of work, including regular seasonal concerts, symphonic-choral programs, educational concert series, periodic national tours, opera and ballet performances, and extraordinary gala concerts.

Over the years, the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra has been conducted by more than a hundred conductors, both national and foreign; among them Sebrina M. Alfonso, Francesco Belli, Jean Claude Bernede, Teodor Constin, Iosif Conta, Carmine Coppola, Tido Dejan, Herrera de la Fuente, Luis de Pablo, Bernardo Adam Ferrero, Tomás Fortín, Yoshikazu Fukumura, A. Gaux, Manuel Duchesne Cuzán, Juan Luis González, Enrique González Mantici, Camargo Guarnieri, Félix Guerrero, Emil Jachaturián, V. Kazanajiev, Olaf Koch, Siegfried Kurz, Alexandr Lazarov, Michel Legrand, Georges Martin, Joel Mathias Jenny, Eduardo Moubarak, Jean-Paul Penin, C. Piantini, Redentor Romero, Gonzalo Romeu, Bernard Rubinstein, Roberto Sánchez Ferrer, Vasil Stefanov, Antonio Tornero, Stefanos Tsialis, Hans Werner Henze and Tek Yin.

It has also featured Cuban and foreign soloists – instrumentalists and singers of great international prestige, including S. Apolin, G. Badev, Zuill Bailey, R. Boubolidi, Y. Boukoff, José Carreras, Joaquín Clerch, C. Cotsiolis, A. Dikov, Frank Fernández, Niurka González, Eric Grossman, María de los Angeles, Victor Pellegrini, Iván Petruzziello, Jorge Luis Prats, Aldo Rodríguez, Victor Rodríguez, M. Rostropovich, Alina Sánchez, Evelio Tieles, Miguel Villafruela, and Roger Woodward.

The Orchestra has also participated in record productions and various events held in Cuba, such as the International Guitar Festival, the Contemporary Music Festival, the New Latin American Cinema Festival, and the Ballet Festival.

Currently, an impressive number of Cuban conductors are parading across the podium of the National Symphony Orchestra, such as Louis Aguirre, Zenaida Castro Romeu, Anarelys Garriga, Elena Herrera, Guido López Gavilán, Jorge López Marín, María Elena Mendiola, Iván del Prado, Enrique Pérez Mesa, the latter being Principal Conductor, and Maestro Leo Brouwer, President of the Cuban National Philharmonic.

In 2010, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) launched an annual event dedicated to its 50th anniversary with a special concert on January 31st at the Amadeo Roldán Auditorium (Calzada corner of C, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana). This event honored the founders of the iconic orchestra with the presentation of a commemorative medal created for this occasion, which will be received throughout the year by other individuals and institutions that have collaborated with the NSO since its inception.