There has been an orchestra in Wimbledon since before the first world war. Under Gustav Mächtig, an immigrant from Germany and Wimbledon resident, concerts were given from the 1890s until 1913, the orchestra made up of professional and amateur players, and with programmes both innovative and popular. Between the wars the Wimbledon Philharmonic Orchestra was formed, and revived after the war. It continued until the late 1950s, conducted by an enthusiastic local bank manager, Kenneth Tucker, until he retired and moved to the West country.

In 1961 composer-conductor Kenneth V Jones announced in the broadsheet Wimbledon Borough News his plan to start a new orchestra, and invited interested players to contact him for auditions. This was the beginning of the Wimbledon Symphony Orchestra, which met for the first time in that year.

In 1971 Kenneth Jones moved from the district and was succeeded by John Alldis, founder of the John Alldis Choir, and conductor, successively, of the London Philharmonic Choir and the London Symphony Chorus. Under his musical direction the orchestra built a solid reputation for adventurous programming and fine performance, attracting prominent soloists including John Lill, Alan Hacker, Felicity Palmer, Rodney Friend, James Galway, Michael Collins, Richard Watkins, Jack Brymer, Joanna McGregor, and Paul Lewis. During John Alldis’ tenure the orchestra presented a concert with the London Philharmonic Choir at Ely Cathedral and developed what became a 25-year partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support of Merton.

WSO worked with several guest conductors at this time. Two concerts were presented under the direction of John Wilson. The first, in June 2001, an all-American programme featuring Gershwin’s An American in Paris, selections from Lerner & Loewe’s musical Gigi, music from David Newman’s film How to Marry a Millionaire, and a symphonic suite that Wilson had compiled from Max Steiner’s film score Gone With The Wind; and the second, in March 2003, a programme of English light music. Martin Prynn also conducted, the orchestra premiering a number of his own compositions.

In 2005 John Alldis was succeeded by Robin Browning, who directed the orchestra in innovative programming and fine performance for ten years until 2015. Robin grew the orchestra’s abilities, directing many successful concerts including two performances at Cadogan Hall. The second of these was a collaboration with the London-based chamber choir Coro featuring Haydn’s Harmoniemesse. WSO continued to work with many upcoming and prominent soloists such as Adam Walker, Priya Mitchell, Guy Johnston, and Jonathan Cohen.

In May 2007, Nicholas Collon directed a memorable performance of Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, with soloist Sally Harrison (soprano).

Since 2015 WSO has chosen to work with a number of conductors. Among these, Andrew Morley has led WSO in several performances featuring world-class soloists including Martin James Bartlett, Jennifer Pike and Ben Goldscheider. WSO collaborated with the Wimbledon-based chamber choir Sonoro in Mozart’s Requiem in March 2019 under the direction of Neil Ferris, Artistic Director of Sonoro & BBC Symphony Chorus Director.