The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has worked with the most renowned conductors and soloists since its founding in 1888. Composers such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Igor Stravinsky conducted the orchestra on multiple occasions. The Concertgebouw Orchestra is known for its distinctive, recognizable sound, partly thanks to the exceptional acoustics of The Concertgebouw. The orchestra’s famously distinct sound is partly due to the unique acoustics of The Concertgebouw. Another determining factor is the influence of the chief conductors, of which there have been only seven to date. Klaus Mäkelä will commence his tenure as the orchestra’s eighth chief conductor in September 2027. 

In addition to some eighty concerts performed in Amsterdam, the Concertgebouw Orchestra gives forty concerts at major concert halls throughout the world each year, expanding its reach through videos, streaming, radio and television broadcasts, and CD and DVD releases on its own RCO Live label. Its extensive educational activities include the Academy of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the unique summer project for talented young people from all over Europe, Concertgebouworkest Young. 

With it's hundred-year milestone at 1988, the orchestra was granted the honorary title 'royal'.