What is London Symphony Orchestra?
The '''London Symphony Orchestra''' ('''LSO''') is one of the most famous [[orchestra]]s of the world. They are based in [[London]]'s [[Barbican Arts Centre|Barbican Centre]], but they often tour to lots of different countries. The LSO started in [[1904]]. Most of the players had been members of [[Henry Wood]]'s [[Queen's Hall]] orchestra. They left that orchestra when Henry Wood made a rule that they were not allowed to send [[deputy|deputies]] to [[rehearsal]]s or [[concert]]s. The LSO was set up as a self governing organization. This means that the players themselves organize everything: they decide how much they are going to be paid, who can be in the orchestra, etc. The LSO gave its first concert on 9 June 1904 with [[Hans Richter]] conducting. He was principal (main) conductor until 1911, when [[Edward Elgar]] took over for a year. Some of the world's most famous conductors have conducted the orchestra. Since January 2007 [[Valery Gergiev]] has been the LSO's Principal Conductor. [[André Previn]] is the Conductor Laureate (Honorary conductor). In 2006, [[Daniel Harding]] became the co-principal guest conductor together with [[Michael Tilson Thomas]]. [[Richard Hickox]] is the Associate Guest Conductor of the LSO. The [[concertmaster|leader]] of the orchestra is [[Gordan Nikolitch]]. The LSO was the first British orchestra to play overseas when it went to [[Paris]] in [[1906]]. The LSO players all came close to death in [[1912]] because they were due to sail on the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']] for a concert in [[New York City|New York]]. Fortunately they had to change the booking at the last minute. They did tour the [[USA]] and [[Canada]] that year, and were the first British orchestra to do so. In [[1966]] the [[London Symphony Chorus]] (LSC) was formed to join the LSO for works with choirs. For many years the LSO refused to allow women to become members because they thought the sound would not be so good. The LSO made their first [[Gramophone record|gramophone]] recording in [[1920]