Founded in 1993, the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra has become one of Turkey's most prominent ensembles, touring widely and attracting international guest stars. The orchestra has served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Turkey.

The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra is one of the few major world orchestras to have its origins in an academic project; it was formed by members of the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts of Bilkent University in the Bilkent district of the Turkish capital of Ankara. The year after its founding, the orchestra moved into the new Bilkent Concert Hall, where it has continued to perform. At first, the orchestra was a modest-sized sinfonietta, but it grew to become a full-sized ensemble with members from Turkey and, at times, as many as a dozen foreign countries. As of 2023, the group had 51 members and was advertising several vacancies. At that time, the orchestra had no permanent conductor; some of its roughly 80 annual concerts were led by Julian Masmondet, Jaume Santonja, and Gürer Aykal. The orchestra has spawned the Bilkent Chamber Orchestra, an Ensemble of Wind Instruments, and other subgroups.

Beginning with a tour of Italy in 1998, the orchestra has often appeared outside Turkey, presenting concerts in Germany (including twice at the Schleswig-Holstein Musiktage festival), Belgium, and Japan, among other countries. The long list of international-caliber soloists who have appeared with the group includes pianist Lang Lang, violinist Shlomo Mintz, and trumpeter Alison Balsom, and guest conductors have included the likes of Vladimir Ashkenazy, José Serebrier, and Gennady Rozhdestvensky. The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra has often championed the works of composer Ahmed Adnan Saygun, making its debut recording in 2008 on the CPO label with an album featuring the composer's concertos for cello and viola. It has made several recordings for the Naxos label, mostly but not exclusively of Turkish music. In 2022, the orchestra moved to the La Dolce Volta label, backing pianist Jean-Philippe Collard on a recording of piano concertos by Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov. ~ James Manheim, Rovi