Founded in 1928 by Vittorio Gui as the Stabile Orchestrale Fiorentina, it has been engaged since its inception in concert performances and opera seasons at the Teatro Comunale of Florence, and is today one of the most highly regarded orchestras by conductors and audiences worldwide. In 1933, with the founding of the Festival, it took the name Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

After Gui, Mario Rossi became principal conductor in 1937, followed in the post-war period by Bruno Bartoletti. Pivotal chapters in the Orchestra’s history include Riccardo Muti’s tenure as principal conductor (1969–1981) and that of Zubin Mehta, who has been Principal Conductor since 1985. Throughout its history, the Orchestra del Maggio has been led by some of the world’s greatest conductors, including: Victor De Sabata, Antonio Guarnieri, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Tullio Serafin, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, Issay Dobrowen, Erich Kleiber, Arthur Rodzinski, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Thomas Schippers, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Carlo Maria Giulini, Georges Prêtre, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Carlos Kleiber, Georg Solti, Riccardo Chailly, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Seiji Ozawa, Daniele Gatti, and Fabio Luisi, who served as Music Director of the Orchestra from April 2018 to July 2019. Daniele Gatti served as Principal Conductor from 2022 until December 31st, 2024, and will assume the role of Music Director in 2026. Currently, Zubin Mehta is Honorary Conductor for Life. 

Renowned composers such as Richard Strauss, Pietro Mascagni, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, Luigi Dallapiccola, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Luciano Berio have conducted their own works at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, often in world premieres. Since the 1950s, the Orchestra has made numerous recordings for disc, radio, and television, many of which have received prestigious awards — including a Grammy Award in 1990. On the occasion of its 80th anniversary, the Orchestra was awarded the Fiorino d’Oro by the City of Florence.

The Orchestra regularly embarks on international tours under the baton of Zubin Mehta, performing operas and concerts across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.

Recent tours include performances at the Salzburg Festival (for a symphonic concert and a concert version of Tosca, conducted by Zubin Mehta); in Athens, at the Grafenegg Festival, in Budapest, and in Dubai for EXPO 2020. Also noteworthy is the European tour with Zubin Mehta, with stops in Hamburg, Linz, Vienna, Luxembourg City, Muri, and Dortmund, as well as two inaugural concerts at the new Auditorium of the Teatro del Maggio. In July 2022, the Orchestra took part in the “Concerto per Firenze” at the Teatro del Maggio’s Cavea and toured Siena’s Piazza del Campo, Ravello, Rimini, Macerata, and Marbella, all under the baton of Zubin Mehta. Most recently, the Orchestra toured to Bucharest (for Verdi’s Otello and a concert) and to Bangkok (for a concert), again with Zubin Mehta.

On December 22nd, 2023, it participated in the concert celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.

First violins  
Salvatore Quaranta (violino di spalla)
Lorenzo Fuoco (concertino)
Boriana Nakeva (terzo posto)
Gianrico Righele
Anna Noferini
Laura Mariannelli
Emilio Di Stefano
Nicola Grassi
Angel Andrea Tavani
Simone Ferrari
Annalisa Garzia
Leonardo Matucci
Luisa Bellitto
Tommaso Vannucci
Anton Horvath
Ginevra Tavani

Second violins
Luigi Papagni (II)
Orietta Bacci
Rossella Pieri
Sergio Rizzelli
Laura Bologna
Cosetta Michelagnoli
Carmela Panariello
Corinne Curtaz
Isak Lenza
Ilaria Lanzoni
Maria Bernadette Lo Russo

Violas 
Jörg Winkler (I)
Lia Previtali (II)
Herber Dézi (II)
Stefano Rizzelli
Flavio Flaminio
Cristiana Buralli
Donatella Ballo
Michela Bernacchi
Ragli Elisa
Marino Claudia 
Valentina Gasperetti

Cellos 
Patrizio Serino (I)
Simão Pedro Alcoforado Barreira (I)
Michele Tazzari (II)
Elida Pali (II)
Wiktor Jasman
Sara Nanni
Sara Anna Spirito
Costanza Persichella
Aimon José Mata Gonzalez

Basses 
Riccardo Donati (I)
Marco Martelli (I)
Daniele Gasparotto (II)
Nicola Domeniconi
Mauro Tedesco
Giulio Andrea Marignetti

Flutes 
Gregorio Tuninetti (I)
Mattia Petrilli(I)
Alessia Sordini
Irene Lucci

Piccolo
Francesco Viola

Oboes
Marco Salvatori (I)
Luca Di Manso (I)
Alessandro Potenza

English horn 
Massimiliano Salmi

Clarinets 
Riccardo Crocilla (I)
Edoardo Di Cicco(I)
Leonardo Cremonini

Bassoons
Rojas Garcia Alejandra (I)
Sergi Niccolò (I)
Gianluca Saccomani
Francesco Furlanich

Horns
Luca Benucci (I)
Alessio Dainese (I)
Alberto Serpente
Alberto Simonelli
Michele Canori
Stefano Mangini

Trumpets 
Claudio Quintavalla (I)
Marco Crusca
Emanuele Antoniucci
Tobia Guerri

Trombones
Giovanni Dominicis
Andrea G. D’Amico
Massimo Castagnino

Low trombone  
Gabriele Malloggi

Low tuba 
Mario Barsotti

Timpani
Fausto Cesare Bombardieri (I)
Gregory Lecoeur (I)

Drums
Lorenzo D’Attoma
Andrea Tiddi

Orchestra organizing secretary
Luca Mannucci