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The orchestra comprises 46 musicians, of which 32 are full-time and 14 are part-time. In the past, the instrumentation has been as high as 47.
The instrumentation includes 3 flutes, 1 oboe, 2 clarinets, 1 bassoon, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 horns, 1 tuba, 5 drummers and percussionists (including traditional African drums, bells, and rattles), 8 violin I, 6 violin II, 5 violas, 5 cellos, and 3 double basses.
The orchestra sometimes performs with a choir.
The National Symphony Orchestra Ghana has performed at such state functions such as Emancipation Day and visits of foreign dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth II, Thabo Mbeki, and the Sultan of Brunei.
The orchestra has also performed at the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC), PANAFEST, and Septemberfest, as well as at various fundraising programs. Additionally, it performs at schools, hotels, weddings, and funerals, as well as at Easter and Christmas concerts.
Since 1996, the orchestra has presented an African Composer's Series, in which it performs the works of composers from Ghana and other African nations.
An orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
The Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Op. 39, are a series of five marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. The first four were published between 1901 and 1907, when Elgar was in his forties; the fifth was published in 1930, a few years before his death; and a sixth, compiled posthumously from sketches, was published in 1956 and in 2005–2006. They include some of Elgar's best-known compositions.
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an American composer, the first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Her early works are marked by atonal exploration, but by the late 1980s, she had shifted to a postmodernist, neoromantic style. She has been called "one of America's most frequently played and genuinely popular living composers." She was a 1994 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. Zwilich has served as the Francis Eppes Distinguished Professor at Florida State University.
William Alwyn, was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it began regular performances at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda.
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. They were also the official orchestra of the annual National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth celebrations. The NSO provides an education program that aims to expose its audiences to classical music. They also provide teaching resources to families and teachers. The NSO's educational programs include scholarships programs and opportunities for musically talented high school students who want to pursue a career in orchestral music.
Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens was an English conductor and composer.
Krzesimir Marcin Dębski is a Polish composer, conductor and jazz violinist. His music career as a musician has been that of a performer as well as composer of classical music, opera, television and feature films.
Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer and professor.
Howard Mitchell was an American cellist and conductor. He was principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1949 to 1969.
Paul Zukofsky was an American violinist and conductor known for his work in the field of contemporary classical music.
Emmanuel Gyimah Labi is a Ghanaian composer, conductor, and music professor. He is a graduate of the Achimota School and a former conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra Ghana.
Tim Fain is an American violinist and composer, best known for his performances in the feature film soundtracks to Black Swan, 12 Years a Slave, and Moonlight, and his work with American composer Philip Glass.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians is the junior section of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition, and it is the largest competition for junior performers up to 17 years of age. The competition was established in 1992 on the initiative of the Association of Tchaikovsky Competition Stars and is held in the sections of piano, violin, and cello.
Philip Comi Gbeho was a Ghanaian musician, composer and teacher. He is best known for his composition of the Ghana National Anthem. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Arts Council of Ghana and was a Director of Music and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Ghana.
The Pan-African Orchestra (PAO) is an orchestra using indigenous African traditions and instruments. It was founded as a 48-piece ensemble in 1988 in Accra, Ghana, by Nana Danso Abiam. Abiam died in a motor accident in Accra on 24 December 2014, in the early hours following his 61st birthday. His mission with the PAO, originally a 30-piece ensemble, had been to explore the classical foundations of traditional African music and to cultivate an integrated continental art form through new compositional and orchestral techniques. The musicians play traditional instruments from across Africa, including the atenteben, gonje, kora and gyile.
Margaret Rosezarian Harris was an American musician, conductor, composer, and educator, the first African-American woman to conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and 13 other cities' orchestras.
Chineke! Orchestra is a British orchestra, the first professional orchestra in Europe to be made up of majority Black & ethnically diverse musicians. The word Chineke derives from the Igbo language meaning "God". The orchestra was founded by musician Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE and their debut concert was in 2015 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.
Shadows, Op. 52, is an orchestral prelude by the Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen, who wrote the piece in 1982 on commission from the National Symphony Orchestra Association. The prelude's thematic material is closely related to Act III of Sallinen's third opera, The King Goes Forth to France, on which he also was at work in 1982, writing Shadows upon completion of Act II of the opera. Nevertheless, the composer has emphasized that Shadows is "an entirely independent orchestral work", albeit one whose "lyrical and dramatic ingredients reflect the philosophy of the opera". The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) premiered the work on 30 November 1982 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., under the direction of its music director, Mstislav Rostropovich. Shadows so impressed Rostropovich and his orchestra that the NSO requested Sallinen compose a symphony for them, the result of which would be the Fifth (1985).
The National Symphony Orchestra is the largest professional orchestra in Ireland. Housed at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, since January 2022, it used to be the concert and radio orchestra of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public radio station. It plays an important role in Irish cultural life, also undertaking occasional tours of Ireland.
