The Symphony Orchestra of the Astana Opera House was founded in 2013. A major role in the ensemble’s formation was played by the conductor Abzal Mukhitdinov. Since March 2015 the orchestra’s Principal Conductor has been Alan Buribaev.
The orchestra has one hundred and ten musicians, and auditions take place on an annual basis.
The orchestra has performed the operas Attila, La traviata, Aida, La Bohème, Tosca, Mukan Tulebayev's Birzhan and Sara, Akhmet Zhubanov and Latif Khamidi’s Abai, the ballets Karagoz by Gaziza Zhubanova, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, The Fountain of Bakhchisarai, La Bayadère, Beethoven’s Third, Fifth and Ninth Symphonies and Violin Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, Bizet-Shchedrin’s Carmen-Suite, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, Serenade for Strings and Violin Concerto, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 3 and Requiem and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue among other works.
The orchestra initiated the concert series The Symphony, Classics for All Ages and The “Baroque” Musical Drawing Room.
The orchestra has appeared under conductors including Valery Gergiev, Marco Boemi, Renat Salavatov, Vladimir Kiradzhiev, Giuseppe Acquaviva, David Giménez and Antonello Allemandi and with such soloists as José Carreras, Elena Obraztsova, Anna Netrebko, Ildar Abdrazakov, Denis Matsuev, Luciano Ganci, Claudio Sgura, Sergei Nakariakov and Olga Peretyatko among others.
On 31 December 2013 a concert by the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra was broadcast by Mezzo TV. In the summer of 2013 the orchestra toured to Italy.
In March 2014 the ensemble featured in performances of Attila and Birzhan and Sara at the Mariinsky Theatre. In autumn the same year the orchestra gave concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Opéra de Paris, the Municipal Theatre of Antwerp and the De Doelen Concert Hall in Rotterdam.
