The RIPO was founded in 1945 by Francis Madeira who went on to be its director and conductor;[REF] he retired in 1978 [REF].
As of 2012, the orchestra has attracted the likes of guest conductors Jahja Ling and Michael Stern, violinists Jennifer Frautschi, Karen Gomyo and David Kim, cellist Alban Gerhardt and pianists Ilya Yakushev, Jessie Chang and Jon Kimura Parker to perform with the orchestra [REF].