The RPO was founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1946, picking up its Royal title in 1966. Its music directors have included Antal Dorati, Andre Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Vladimir Ashkenazy was the principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1994. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.