RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra

The RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, sometimes also known as the Victor Symphony Orchestra, RCA Victor Salon Orchestra, the RCA Victor Orchestra and simply, the RCA Orchestra was an American studio orchestra founded in 1940 by the RCA Victor record label for the purposes of making recordings. Originally established in the 1920s as a salon orchestra based at Victor's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey, the group was created by longtime Victor staff conductor and arranger Nathaniel Shilkret. The name later was used for free-lance orchestras, mainly in New York City, assembled as needed to make recordings for RCA Victor through the early 1960s. Its players included those from the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony of the Air and other major ensembles. The RCA Victor Orchestra recorded with notable conductors including Leopold Stokowski, Fritz Reiner, Josef Krips and Leonard Bernstein. A number of their recordings received Grammy Awards. In the early 1960s the orchestra was disbanded when RCA Victor began moving much of its Red Seal recording activity to Europe and established the RCA Italiana Orchestra at its studios in Rome.