The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) was hailed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung as the »orchestral think tank« among the capital's orchestras. They stand out for the rich dramaturgy of their concert programmes, their commitment to contemporary music and regular discoveries of new repertoire, as well as their courage to use unusual music education formats. The DSO have generated innovative impulses  with international remix competitions, electro projects and collaborations with independent enselmbles. For 15 years, they have been bringing art closer to the pulse of modern life with their moderated Casual Concerts including Lounge and Live Act, and since 2014 they have been been bringing amateur and professional musicians together to form Berlin's largest spontaneous orchestra, the  »Symphonic Mob«. In the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, they attracted attention with their extraordinary music films, including Richard Strauss'  »Eine Alpensinfonie« with Reinhold Messner.

The DSO was founded in 1946 as the RIAS Symphony Orchestra and renamed the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin in 1956. It has borne its current name since 1993, with Ferenc Fricsay, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kent Nagano, Ingo Metzmacher and Tugan Sokhiev as chief conductors during its first seven decades. British conductor Robin Ticciati has been leading the DSO into the future as Artistic Director since 2017. With numerous guest performances, the orchestra is in demand both nationally and internationally as a cultural ambassador for Berlin and Germany and is also present worldwide with multiple award-winning CD recordings.

The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin is a Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre gGmbH (ROC) ensemble, which is supported by Deutschlandradio, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of Berlin and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg.