The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester) started out in 1926 as a small radio orchestra. Over the years, it has become the most prominent orchestral ambassador of Estonia abroad, powerfully increasing its international scope particularly in recent decades. Since 2010, its Principal Conductor and Artistic Director has been Neeme Järvi, who had served as its Principal Conductor also from 1963 until 1979. The Orchestra performs with esteemed conductors and soloists from around the world, including of course Estonian musicians of the front rank. Its CDs demonstrate a quality that has been recognised by several renowned music magazines and have won several prizes, including a Grammy Award for the recording of cantatas by Sibelius. Its home venue is the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn, which turned 100 years in 2013, and it has undertaken more than fifty concert tours, notably three-week tours of Italy in 2003 and the USA in 2009 and 2013, as well as a first tour of China in 2016. It has appeared at such prestigious festivals as Europamusicale in Munich, Musiksommer in Gstaad, the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, Il Settembre dell’Accademia in Verona, White Light Festival in New York, and White Nights Festival in St Petersburg. Commanding a repertoire that ranges from the baroque period to the present time, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra has given the premiere performances of symphonic pieces by almost every Estonian composer, including Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, and Eduard Tubin.