Gives a full history of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, from its nineteenth-century forerunner, the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn, to its current status as house orchestra for the equally impressive Brooklyn Academy of Music and one of the most innovative and respected symphony orchestras of modern times.

While the author Maurice Edwards' history of the Brooklyn Philharmonic centers on this great institution, it also encompasses the greater subject of the vibrant world of music and culture in New York during the second half of the 20th century and the opening decade of the 21st. Edwards begins with a look at the orchestra's 19th-century forerunner and traces the current orchestra's beginnings under its founder and first music director Siegfried Landau. The eras of succeeding music directors Lukas Foss, Dennis Russell Davies, and Robert Spano are examined in detail, as is the evolution of the Brooklyn Philharmonic into the official house orchestra of the equally innovative and influential Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). More than two dozen historical photographs and illustrations are included, and an 80-page appendix provides a detailed listing of the orchestra's extraordinary programs, including the famous Marathons.