The Barcelona Symphony Orchestra – the National Orchestra of Catalonia (OBC) – was founded in 1944 by Eduard Toldrà. The orchestra is committed to promoting classical and contemporary music from all cultures, with special attention to Catalan composers. The orchestra's conductors have included Eduard Toldrà, Rafael Ferrer, Antoni Ros Marbà, Salvador Mas, Franz-Paul Decker, García Navarro, Lawrence Foster, Ernest Martínez Izquierdo, Eiji Oue, Pablo González and most recently Kazushi Ono, who was appointed in September 2015.

The OBC has collaborated with numerous renowned conductors and soloists such as Sergiu Celibidache, Christoph von Dohnányi, Valery Gergiev, Christopher Hogwood, Eliahu Inbal, Mariss Jansons, Georges Prêtre, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Lang Lang, Janine Jansen, Daniel Barenboim, Isaac Stern, Radu Lupu, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Alicia de Larrocha, Pinchas Zukerman, Martha Argerich, Joshua Bell and Arthur Rubinstein. With a discography of over 100 recordings, the orchestra has maintained a long-standing relationship with Naxos, resulting in high-quality recordings of Catalan composers such as Manén, Granados, Leonardo Balada, Montsalvatge and Benet Casablancas, as well as other international composers.

The OBC tours internationally and performs in the world's leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Musikverein Wien, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The OBC is affiliated with the Consorci de l'Auditori i l'Orquestra, a partnership between the Barcelona city council and the Catalan government. Since April 1999, it has had its own concert hall, L'Auditori, designed by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.