The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra) for 75 years has been one of the leading orchestras of Russia and a special pride of this country's musical culture.

The ensemble's debut performance took place on 5 October 1936, at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Only a few months later, it went on an extensive tour around the former USSR.

From its inception, the orchestra has been led by the finest musicians such as its founder Alexander Gauk (1936-1941); Natan Rakhlin (1941-1945), who guided it through the difficult World War II years; Konstantin Ivanov (1945-1965), who, for the first time, took it on international tours; and "the last romantic of the 20th century," Evgeny Svetlanov (1965-2000). Under Svetlanov's leadership the orchestra became one of the world's best, and its repertoire has grown to include virtually all Russian symphonic music, nearly all Western classics, and countless works by contemporary composers. From 2000 to 2002 the orchestra was headed by Vassily Sinaisky, and from 2002 to 2011, by Mark Gorenstein.

On 24 October 2011 Vladimir Jurowski is appointed an artistic director of The State Symphony Orchestra of Russia.

On 27 October 2005, the name of Evgeny Fedorovich Svetlanov became part of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia official name in recognition of his invaluable contribution to Russian musical culture.

The orchestra performs at such prestigious venues as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow), Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington, D. C.), Musikverein (Vienna), Albert Hall (London), Salle Pleyel (Paris), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), and Suntory Hall (Tokyo).

The list of world renowned and legendary figures who graced the podium of the orchestra as guest conductors includes H. Abendroth, A. Cluytens, V. Gergiev, N. Golovanov, M. Jansons, E. Kleiber, K. Kondrashin, K. Masur, A. Melik-Pashaev, Y. Menuhin, E. Mravinsky, C. Munch, M. Rostropovich, G. Rozhdestvensky, S. Samosud, and Y. Temirkanov to name a few.

Among the outstanding soloists who have performed with the orchestra are I. Arkhipova, Yu. Bashmet, M. Caballe, P. Domingo, A Fischer, Gilels, N. Gutman, O. Kagan, L. Kogan, V. Krainev, M. Long Y. Menuhin, D. Oistrakh, N. Petrov, M. Pletnev, S. Richter, V. Spivakov, V. Tretyakov, and E. Virsaladze. Recently, this stellar roster was expanded to add A. Baeva, A. Buzlov, M. Fedotov, M. Gulegina, D. Hvorostovsky, E. Kissin, A. Knyazev, A. Korobeinikov, M. Kultyshev, N. Lugansky, D. Matsuev, V. Rudenko, A. Rudin, and M. Vengerov.

After its first tour abroad in 1956, the orchestra has regularly represented Russian culture in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the US, and other countries and participated in the major international festivals and charitable events.

The ensemble devotes a great deal of time to touring Russian cities and also, to charitable activities, including free performances at the country's hospitals, schools, and orphanages.

The orchestra's discography includes hundreds of recordings released by leading Russian and foreign labels such as Melodiya, Bomba-Piter, EMI Classics, BMG, Naxos, Chandos, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm, and others. The special place in this list belongs to the famous Anthology of the Russian Symphonic Music encompassing audio recordings of Russian composers from Glinka to Glazunov, a Svetlanov's project, to which he dedicated many years.

The orchestra's creative biography is a succession of triumphant achievements that have secured its permanent place in the annals of world culture.