[3] In February 1907, Leandro Campanari took over and served as interim conductor for a short time during Scheel's illness and after his death.

The orchestra cancelled his contract and gave him a year's salary ($12,000) in severance to avoid a suit from Pohlig alleging a conspiracy to oust him.

[citation needed] In 1936, Eugene Ormandy joined the organization, and jointly held the post of principal conductor with Stokowski until 1938 when he became its sole music director.

[citation needed] Riccardo Muti became principal guest conductor of the orchestra in the 1970s, and assumed the role as Music Director from Ormandy in 1980, serving through 1992.

His recordings with the orchestra included the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and Alexander Scriabin, for the EMI and Philips labels.

Eventually, in 2012, he was appointed music director, succeeding Dutoit, who subsequently was named conductor laureate of the orchestra.

[25] In December 2017, the orchestra announced the discontinuation of its relationship with Dutoit and the revocation of his title as its conductor laureate, with immediate effect, in the wake of allegations against him of sexual assault.

Past Associate Conductors of the orchestra have included William Smith, Luis Biava, and Rossen Milanov.

[34] On April 16, 2011, the Philadelphia Orchestra's board of directors voted to file for Chapter 11 reorganization due to the organization's large operational deficit.

[35][36] Amid mounting dissent from the musicians, Nézet-Séguin volunteered in August 2011 to add a week in his 2011–2012 season appearances.

[40] In March 2018, the orchestra announced the appointment of Matías Tarnopolsky as its next president and chief executive officer,[41] in succession to Allison Vulgamore, who held the posts from 2010 through December 2017.

[42] In February 2023, the orchestra announced a further extension of Nézet-Séguin's contract, through the 2029–2030 season, along with a change in his title to music and artistic director.

Later, in an all-Rachmaninoff programme on February 3, 1920, Stokowski gave the U.S. premiere of The Bells and accompanied the composer in his 3rd Piano Concerto.

On March 18, 1927, Stokowski conducted the world premieres of the Three Russian Folk Songs, of which he was the dedicatee, and the 4th Piano Concerto, again with the composer at the keyboard.

Another world premiere took place on November 7, 1934, when Stokowski conducted the composer in the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,[50] with the two musicians making its first recording shortly afterwards.

[51] Rachmaninoff himself also took on the role of conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra, recording Isle of the Dead and Vocalise with them in 1929, followed ten years later by a 78rpm set of his 3rd Symphony, a work that Stokowski had premiered on November 6, 1936.

In particular, he and Ormandy were also close associates and Rachmaninoff was supposed to have said that in his American years he composed with the sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra in his head.

"[56] In November 2023, as part of the U.S. State Department's Global Music Diplomacy Initiative[57] and ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden's meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco, 14 musicians traveled to China for a series of performances amid a low point in US-China relations, recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Orchestra's cultural exchanges with China,[58][59][60] winning praise from both Biden and Xi for its use of music diplomacy in improving bilateral relations.

Ambassador to China R. Nicholas Burns described the visit as "a very important" and "perfectly timed event," noting that it "turned the page" on a four-year period of cultural disengagement between the American and the Chinese people caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[55][61][62][63] The Orchestra's first recordings were made for the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey, in 1917, when Leopold Stokowski conducted performances of two of Brahms's Hungarian Dances.

Stokowski led the ensemble in experimental long-playing, high-fidelity, and even stereophonic sessions in the early 1930s for RCA Victor and Bell Laboratories.

In 1977, all of the recordings were finally issued in a 5-LP boxed set; they were later digitally remastered and reissued twice on compact disc by RCA Victor in 1992 and again in 2006.

[48] In 2010, the orchestra abandoned this practice and formed a partnership with IODA, a digital distribution company with downloads available through a variety of online retailers, including iTunes, Amazon.com, Rhapsody, and eMusic.

[citation needed] In other media, musicians from the orchestra were featured in a documentary film by Daniel Anker, Music from the Inside Out, which received theatrical release and television airings.