Jonathan Nott began his tenure as the 3rd Music Director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in 2014 season. Mo. Nott and the Orchestra won the he Best Recording of Music Pen club Japan Award for the recording of Symphony No. 10 by Mahler and Symphony No.9 by Bruckner in 2018. Highlights of past seasons with Mo. Nott include Symphony 9 by Beethoven; Gurre-Lieder by Schoenberg celebrating 15th Anniversary of Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, TSO’s home; and Mozart’s Da Ponte Operas in concert style. In the orchestra ranking conducted by a music magazine in 2008, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra gained the highest positioning among Japanese orchestras.
In 2018, TSO launched “TSO Music & Video Subscription”, first-ever digital project in Japanese Orchestras, which provides live-concert video and music as well as CD recording. In March 2020, the live-streamed concert without audience on nico-nico Live Channel which attracted more than 200,000 viewers nationwide, has been a mega-hit in Japan.
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has a reputation for giving first performances of a number of new contemporary music and opera. Some of the major new works that it has performed in recent years include Helmut Lachenmann's opera The Little Match Girl (2000, Japanese premiere, concert-style), Toshiro Mayuzumi's opera Kojiki (Day of the Gods, 2001, Japan premiere, concert-style), John Adam's El Nino (2003, Japan premiere), John Adam's opera A Flowering Tree (2008, Japan premiere, centre-stage style), Janacek Opera Series, Schubert's Symphony Zyklus (2008), Schoenberg Project (2011) and others, which have attracted attention in the music circle every year. Through these activities, the orchestra has received most of Japan's major music awards such as the Minister of Education Award, Ongaku no Tomo Sha Award, the Grand Prix of Kyoto Music Award, Mainichi Art Award, Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Award, Mobil Music Award, Suntory Music Award and the Special Prize of Kenzo Nakajima Music Award. In 2013, the orchestra received the Kawasaki City Culture Award for 2013, which is given to an individual or organization in recognition of their remarkable efforts in developing and advancing culture and the arts in Kawasaki City.
Since becoming the resident orchestra of the City of Kawasaki in July 2004, the Tokyo Symphony has been holding Kawasaki subscription concerts, the Masterpiece Classics series, music appreciation classes, citizen's concerts as well as visiting and performing at facilities in various parts of the city. It has also signed a semi-resident orchestra agreement with the City of Niigata, where it has been performing subscription concerts, special concerts, concerts for fifth graders and others since 1998. In 2013, the orchestra has agreed with a new partnership with Hachioji College Community & Culture Fureai Foundation.
The orchestra performs over 160 times a year, combining both self-produced performances and commissioned performances. It has been playing at New National Theatre, Tokyo's opera and ballet performances from January through March every year as one of the two regularly performing orchestras.
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has also worked on concerts for children from an early stage. It received the 2010 Himawari Medal of Honor in the Group Category, highly commended for “making significant contributions to carrying on music culture to the next generation” through the “Orchestra Experience from Age Zero” project (held since 2007). The “Subscription Concert for Children” series (held since 2001), presented in collaboration with Suntory Hall, has drawn attention not only from the music circle but also from various fields for its innovative idea of presenting the first subscription concert for children in Japan.
Outside of Japan, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has performed 78 times in 58 cities, commencing with the tour to North America in 1976. In October 2016, the orchestra celebrated its 70th anniversary and took a European tour including the concert at Musikverein Großer Saal in Vienna with Music Director Jonathan Nott. Also in August 2018, in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Conclusion of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China, the Orchestra had concerts in Shanghai and Hangzhou and received high praise.
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra has also been actively engaged in recording and broadcasting projects. It has released albums from several labels such as TOKYO SYMPHONY Label, N&F Label, King Records, EXTON and Nippon Columbia Label. he orchestra won the 21st Music Pen Club Japan Awards three times (2009, 2010 and 2018) for concert performance and CD recordings. The orchestra also regularly performs on TV Asahi's programme “Untitled Concert”.
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946 and called the “TOHO Symphony Orchestra.” The orchestra worked under the management of “Toho”, a motion picture company.
The orchestra has Kazuyoshi Akiyama and Hubert Soudant as Conductor Laureate, Naoto Otomo as Honorary Guest Conductor, and Norichika Iimori as Special Guest Conductor. The line-up of conductors who have conducted for the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in the past include distinguished names such as Arvid Jansons, Hidemaro Konoye and Masashi Ueda.