Izmir State Symphony Orchestra (İzDSO)  has been set up in 1975 as a chamber music ensemble with the offer of Fine Arts Director-General of the time; Mehmet Özel and the approval of the Minister of Culture of the time; Nermin Nefçi under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Hikmet Şimşek. Ankara State Opera violin artist Tuncer Olcay has been appointed as the founder-manager. The Ensemble has undergone remarkable growth and improvement in a very short time and reached the potential of a symphonic orchestra.

Today İzDSO is one of the biggest and rooted art institutions of our country with a team of 78 artists, has demonstrated huge success in the field of polyphonic music and reached a level high enough to compete with rooted art institutions of the World.

Izmir State Symphony Orchestra has demonstrated incomparable efforts to introduce, support, endear and spread polyphonic music culture primarily in Izmir and the Aegean Region as well as throughout the country.