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It was founded in 1900 by Fritz Scheel , who also acted as its first Conductor . In 1907, Karl Pohlig took over the post, but it was Leopold Stokowski , who became principal conductor in 1912, who brought it to prominence. Under him, the orchestra gained a reputation for great virtuosity. It was under Stokowski's direction that the orchestra was featured in the 1940 Disney animated film '' Fantasia ''. In 1936, Eugene Ormandy joined the organisation, and jointly held the post of Principal Conductor with Stokowski until 1938, when he took over the role full-time. He remained with the orchestra for 44 years, and many of the orchestra's best-known recordings were made under his baton. Ormandy took the orchestra on its historic 1973 tour of the People's Republic Of China , where they were the first Western orchestra to visit China in many decades. They were wildly popular in China, and have since returned for three more successful tours. Ormandy was succeeded by Riccardo Muti (Music Director 1980-92) and Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993-2002). The orchestra's current Music Director is Christoph Eschenbach . The Philadelphia Orchestra also boasts an extraordinary record of media firsts. It was the first symphony orchestra to make electrical recordings (in 1925), the first to perform its own commercially sponsored radio broadcast (in 1929, on NBC), the first to perform on the soundtrack of a feature film (Paramount's The Big Broadcast of 1937), the first to appear on a national television broadcast (in 1948, on CBS), the first American orchestra to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on Compact Disc (in 1988), and the first major orchestra to give a live Cybercast of a concert on the Internet (in 1997). In other firsts, the Orchestra made diplomatic history in 1973 when it became the first American orchestra to tour the People's Republic of China, performing in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. In 1999, under Wolfgang Sawallisch, it became the first American orchestra to visit Vietnam. The Philadelphia Orchestra performs more than 130 concerts during its winter subscription season from September to May. In its summer season spanning June and July, it performs at Philadelphia's outdoor Mann Center for the Performing Arts, followed by a three-week residency in August at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. Philadelphia Orchestra's current concertmaster is David Kim . MUSIC DIRECTORS
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