Following Maestro Delman’s death the following year, Welsh conductor Alun Francis was appointed as Music Director, and under his leadership, the orchestra embarked on a journey through the 19th and 20th-century symphonic repertoire.
In 2002, in addition to being the resident orchestra of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, it embarked on its first European tour, performing in France, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland.
In 2005, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, conducted by Eiji Oue and featuring violinist Hilary Hahn, toured Germany and France, continuing with concerts, under the guidance of Riccardo Chailly, in major European cities such as Frankfurt, Vienna, and Budapest.
In 2011, with three performances of Georges Bizet's Carmen, the orchestra opened the inaugural celebrations of the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman, which is positioning itself among the "top ten" of the world’s best theatres.
In 2012, the orchestra embarked on another tour in Russia and, in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI in Milan for the VII World Meeting of Families, provided the musical part of the liturgy.
In November 2022, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano and its Coro Sinfonico undertook a European tour to Amsterdam (Het Concertgebouw), Barcelona (L'Auditori), Madrid (Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid), and Alicante (Adda Alicante - Auditorio - Concert Hall), dedicated to the performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, with a cast featuring Carmela Remigio (soprano), Anna Bonitatibus (mezzo-soprano), Valentino Buzza (tenor), and Fabrizio Beggi (bass).
Alongside its concert activity, the orchestra has developed a remarkable discography that spans from Verdi and Rossini repertoires to the grand Romantic and Russian symphonic works.
It has also been conducted by Valery Gergiev, Rudolf Barshai, Claus Peter Flor, Christopher Hogwood, Marko Letonja, Daniele Gatti, Roberto Abbado, Ivor Bolton, Kazushi Ono, Vladimir Jurowski, Yakov Kreizberg, Ulf Schirmer, Eiji Oue, Herbert Blomstedt, Krzysztof Penderecki, Leonard Slatkin, Vladimir Fedoseev, and Wayne Marshall.