The Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra is one of Sweden’s oldest, founded as early as 1912. Today it consists of 51 musicians and gives about 75 concerts a year in Helsingborg and around southern Sweden. Since 1988 the HSO has been on a number of tours abroad, visiting among other countries France, Germany, Austria, Poland, the USA and Spain with great success. In 1991 Okku Kamu took over the post as principal conductor after Hans-Peter Frank, and over the last few years the orchestra has experienced a strong growth in audiences. Over the years the HSO has made many recordings, the most recent of which, with Okku Kamu, have attracted international attention. In January 1995 the HSO’s recording of Britten’s piano concerto was named Editor’s Choice in the highly respected British periodical Gramophone - the first time for a Swedish orchestra. The recording of Franz Berwald’s symphonies was awarded a Diapason d’Or by the French music periodical Diapason, and for the CD Svenske klassiske favoritter (Swedish Classical Favourites) the orchestra has been awarded both a gold and a platinum record for more than 100,000 copies sold.