Besides the traditional classical repertory, the orchestra also performs Latin American and Peruvian works, including numerous world premieres.

The orchestra gave its first concert on 11 December 1938 at the Teatro Municipal de Lima, under the baton of Theo Buchwald, as part of the eighth International Conference of American States.

The program featured the National Anthem of Peru, plus works by Beethoven, Debussy, Manuel de Falla, Ravel, and Wagner.

Visiting soloists who performed with the orchestra included Claudio Arrau, Yehudi Menuhin, Artur Rubinstein, Andrés Segovia and Nicanor Zabaleta.

[4] The orchestra has long promoted the work of Peruvian composers, and it has performed works by Daniel Alomía Robles, Celso Garrido-Lecca, Roberto Carpio, Enrique Iturriaga, Armando Guevara Ochoa, Ernesto López Mindreau, Enrique Pinilla, Francisco Pulgar Vidal, Alfonso de Silva, Teodoro Valcárcel and Edgar Valcárcel, among others.