The Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias was established in 1937 and gave its first official performance in 1940 under the baton of Amalio López. In 1943 the direction of the orchestra was entrusted to Ángel Muñiz Toca, a musician who played a leading part in musical life in the Asturias and elsewhere over the course of some twenty years. For a time economic circumstances reduced the number of players, to create a chamber orchestra, but by the death of Muñiz Toca it had regained its original size, known in his honour as the Orquesta Sinfónica de Asturias “Ángel Muñiz Toca”. Later conductors included Vicente Santimoteo and Alfonso Ordieres, succeeded in 1974 by Benito Lauret. 1980 opened a new era, with the appointment of Víctor Pablo Pérez, and in 1988 it was decided to enlarge the orchestra, to meet the demands of new repertoire in the 1990s. The Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias made its official début in 1991 under its first principal conductor, Jesse Levine, and since 1994 it has been under the direction of the distinguished conductor Maximiano Valdés, winning, with its international complement of 69 players, drawn from twenty countries, an assured position in collaboration with leading artists both at home and abroad, as well as in the recording studio.