[6][7] The RPO sponsors the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO), founded in 1970 and composed of Rochester-area student musicians in the eighth through twelfth grades.

In 2000, the orchestra named Michael Butterman its principal conductor for education and outreach, the first position of its kind in the country.

Recordings have featured many prominent American composers, including George Gershwin, Samuel Barber, Morton Gould, and Howard Hanson).

In 1959, the Ford Foundation invited the RPO to participate in a program to promote new American composers and their works.

The RPO has received the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming four times, in 1982, 2005, 2006, and 2012, in recognition of its commitment to music written in the previous 25 years.

The Rochester Arts and Cultural Council's Artist Award has been given to both Jeff Tyzik (2002) and Christopher Seaman (2003).

[11] In 2012, the RPO received the first-ever Amy Award for Excellence in Orchestral Programming from Women's Philharmonic Advocacy.