In 1983 Her Majesty Queen Sofía allowed her name to be used for a group of musicians who made their début on 28th May 1984 at the Madrid Teatro Real under the title the Chamber Orchestra of Queen Sofía. Described by the guitarist Narciso Yepes on the occasion of its first visit to Japan as the true chamber music ambassador of Spain, the ensemble has a wide-ranging repertoire ranging from Bach and Handel to Rachmaninov, Vaughan Williams and Britten.
The orchestra has paid particular attention to Spanish music, with works such as the symphonies of Carlos Baguer (1768-1808), awarded the Ministry of Culture Premio Nacional del Disco in 1986, and of composers including Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Joaquín Turina, Eduardo Toldrá, Fernando Sor, Joaquín Rodrigo, Xavier Montsalvatge, Luis de Pablo, Carlos Cruz de Castro, Claudio Prieto, David del Puerto, Tomás Marco, José García Román, Jorge Fernández Guerra, Cristóbal Halffter, Manuel Castillo, José Ramón Encinar, Carmelo Bernaola, Alfredo Aracil, Antón García Abril, and Jesús Villa-Rojo, among others. The orchestra has performed a number of works dedicated to it and has been invited to leading festivals, theatres and concert venues, including the Milan Teatro alla Scala, the Lisbon Teatro San Carlo, Barcelona Palau de la Música, Tokyo Nissay Theatre, Madrid Teatro Real, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Madrid Auditorio Nacional de Música, the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro, the Teatro Manzoni in Milan and halls and theatres in Zurich, Venice, Bern, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo. There have been collaborations over the years with the most distinguished Spanish and international musicians, soloists and conductors.
