was established in 1949. Two internationally reputed personalities, V. Talich (1949–1952) and Ľ. Rajter (1949–1976) stood at the orchestra’s birth. Other chief conductors who have played an important role in the orchestra’s musical evolution include T. Frešo, L. Slovák, L. Pešek, V. Verbitsky, B. Režucha, A. Ceccato, O. Lenárd, J. Bělohlávek, V. Válek, P. Feranec, E. Villaume, J. Judd and D. Raiskin (2020–2025). From the 2025/2026 season Daniel Raiskin and Ondrej Olos act as permanent guest conductors.
Among the many guest conductors who have worked with the Slovak Philharmonic over the years, international personalities like J. Ferencsik, W. Rowicki, V. Smetáček, K. Ančerl, F. Konwitschny, A. Jansons, V. Neumann, H. Abendroth, A. Pedrotti, Sir E. Goossens, Sir M. Sargent, R. Benzi, K. Masur, Sir Ch. Mackerras, C. Zecchi, S. Baudo, C. Abbado, K. Sanderling, Z. Košler, R. Muti, K. Richter, K. Kondrashin, L. Segerstam, A. Lombard, S. Celibidache, T. Sanderling, O. Danon, M. Rossi, N. Järvi, K. Kobayashi, J. Svetlanov, M. Jansons, Ch. von Dohnányi, D. Kitajenko, O. Suitner, J. Conlon, V. Gergiev, A. Rahbari, F. Luisi, Sir Y. Menuhin, P. Schreier, V. Fedoseyev, R. Weikert, M. Caridis, P. Steinberg, P. Keuschnig, T. Hanus, J. Hrůša, J. Valčuha, T. Netopil, I. Marin, P. Baleff, G. Pehlivanian, J. Märkl, I. Volkov, W. Marshall, E. G. Jensen, A. Buribayev must be mentioned, as well as composers and performers of self-penned works like J. Martinon, K. Penderecki and A. Khachaturian.
The orchestra has made numerous recordings for radio, television and the music publishers OPUS, Supraphon, Panton, Hungaroton, JVC Victor, RCA, Pacific Music, Naxos and Marco Polo. The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra regularly gives guest performances on leading European stages and festivals, as well as in Cyprus, Turkey, and the USA, and it has regularly undertaken concert tours in Japan, South Korea, Oman and United Arab Emirates, as well as performed on prestigious stages, e.g. Liederhalle Stuttgart and Kölner Philharmonie. It has appeared in Zagreb, Maribor, Vienna, at the Krumlov Festival with Maxim Vengerov. In the previous season it performed within the subscription cycle in Festspielhaus in Salzburg and gave foreign concert tours in Spain and Japan. Besides foreign stages it has performed regularly at renowned festivals in Slovakia, e.g. Košice Music Spring and festival Allegretto Žilina.
In the season 2026/2027 the orchestra continues the recording of F. Schmidt’s symphonies with its permanent guest conductor D. Raiskin. In this season, the Slovak Philharmonic is invited to perform at festivals in Jihlava, Kroměříž, and to collaborate with the Prague Philharmonic Choir at Christmas Concerts in Prague.