The Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra (MCPO) was founded in 1978 under the auspices of the Government of Mexico through the initiative of Mrs Carmen Romano de López Portillo, wife of the former president of Mexico. With 24 years of uninterrupted activities, the orchestra has become an important cultural organization in Mexico, having performed over two thousand concerts in the main Mexican concert halls, as well as on tour in the Mexican Republic, the United States, Europe, South America and the Far East. Triumphant performances of the orchestra have been witnessed at legendary venues like Carnegie Hall in New York City, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Teatro Real de Madrid among others.
The orchestra has made almost a hundred recordings, most of them with music by Mexican composers, and in 1981 was awarded the highest honour of the Académie du Disque Français for its recording of three Mexican ballets by Galindo, Moncayo and Chávez, distinguishing the orchestra as the best in Latin America. Recently, the orchestra was nominated for Best Recording on the 2001 Grammy Latino Awards. The orchestra has collaborated with some of the most important internationally known musicians and conductors of our time, and, of course, with all the most important Mexican musicians.
Through its history, the orchestra has always promoted young talent with several competitions for young musicians, as well as commissioning new works from well known Mexican composers. Directors of the orchestra have included Fernando Lozano (founder and artistic director for seven years), Enrique Bátiz, Luis Herrera de la Fuente and, since September 1998, the Music Director and Conductor Jorge Mester, under whose baton, the orchestra has reached the highest levels of artistic quality and commitment with the cultural life of Mexico.
