Heir to the Société des concerts du Conservatoire founded in 1828, the Orchester de Paris gave its inaugural concert in November 1967 under the direction of Charles Munch.
After the death of its founding father, the musical direction of the orchestra was entrusted successively to Herbert von Karajan, Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi and Daniel Harding.
The orchestra makes its first tour in the USSR and inaugurates its first residency at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence. In October 1968, Charles Munch died during the first North American tour.