Founded in 1879, the SSO is the oldest Chinese symphony orchestra.

In 1922, it was renamed as the Shanghai Municipal Council Symphony Orchestra.

It played at the Shanghai Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting.

[2] Long Yu is currently the conductor and musical director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the artistic director and principal conductor of China Philharmonic Orchestra, and the music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, sharing his time between the three.

Jindong Cai of Stanford University said of Yu that he has "done a lot for the development of [European] classical music in China".