in 1938, sergei prokofiev conducted the orchestra in his "first symphony" and performed his "first piano concerto" under the baton of horace tureman. the performance was hampered by prokofiev's demeanor, poor printings of the scores, and insufficient rehearsal time, and pleased neither reviewers nor prokofiev. during the 1950s, under saul caston's direction, jascha heifetz, rudolf serkin, gregor piatigorsky and leon fleischer were among the symphony's guest artists.