For 42 years, the Longview Symphony has provided live orchestral performances of classical music to audiences in Longview , TX .

Starting as an amateur group with a few conservatory-trained musicians volunteering their time, today the orchestra is composed entirely of professional musicians from Longview, the greater East Texas area, Shreveport, LA, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  Fourteen members are on staff at area universities and colleges, others are music educators in primary and secondary schools and many teach lessons privately.  Dr. Isidor Saslav, the concertmaster since 1999, has served as concertmaster under the batons of Pablo Casals, Aaron Copland and Sir Neville Marriner.  He has worked with Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Mstisla Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Arthur Rubinstein – and other great musicians of our time all over the world. 

Tonu Kalam joined the Longview Symphony as music director/conductor in 1988. This talented director commutes from Chapel Hill , North Carolina , where he is a tenured professor of music and conductor of the University of North Carolina Symphony.  Also trained as a composer and pianist at Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley , Kalam appears as guest conductor throughout the United States and Europe . He is a past President of the Conductors Guild, an international organization devoted to the art of conducting.  In 2005, Kalam was officially declared an Honorary Texan by the Texas Legislature.  Maestro Kalam follows early directors, James Snowden, Longview High School band director, and Dr. Frank Carrol, dean of music at Centenary College,

The Longview Symphony takes pride in sponsoring the Longview Area Youth Symphony Orchestra (LAYSO) and the Longview Area Preparatory Strings (LAPS) for school-age children.  In 2003, the Guest Artist Master Classes were introduced and funded by Eastman Company.  Each year, guest artists provide a teaching forum for area high school and college music students.  Selected students play for the guest artist and receive instruction.  The Longview Symphony has held the "Sounds of Music" Children’s Concert for 19 years. This concert is held for area fourth-grade students and is entertaining as well as educational - helping schools to accomplish state-required fine arts objectives for fourth-graders in public, private or home-schools.  The 2010 concert is sponsored in part by a grant from Target.

Bach’s Lunches are a series of free, lunch-time concerts held at local churches.  These concerts provide a break from routine with beautiful music available to everyone.