The SSO grew out of the Stevenage Musical Society which has existed in the town since before the last war. In those early days, an orchestra was hurriedly got together to accompany a large choir in the performance of religious oratorios in the Parish Church.

In the early 1950's, a handful of enthusiastic string players met each week and, heavily augmented by students and others, were able to put on an orchestral concert now and again.

The band of regulars then grew in number under the baton of John Clement to form the nucleus of the present symphony orchestra. Conductors of the early orchestra included Peter Wigfield who studied under Sir Adrian Boult.

Musical Directors of the orchestra since then have included Alex Mitchell, David Murphy and Pavel Kotla who all made great strides in developing the orchestra.

In April 2004, the orchestra appointed Peter Britton to conduct the orchestra for the 2004/5 concert season. Throughout his career, Peter has been heavily involved with music at all levels in neighbouring Cambridgeshire and the orchestra looks forward to working with him.