The Symphony Orchestra has been active since the founding of the Academy of Music in 1921. Its long-time conductor is Maestro Mladen Tarbuk. The orchestra gathers students from all performance departments and study years.

Exploring a stylistically diverse and complex repertoire, the choir and symphony orchestra have been conducted by renowned conductors such as Nikša Bareza, Igor Kuljerić, Zoran Juranić, Vladimir Kranjčević, Uroš Lajovic, Milan Horvat, Igor Gjadrov, Pavle Dešpalj, Aleksandar Kalajdžić, Alun Francis, Mladen Tarbuk, and others. The Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Music Academy regularly present the audience with interpretatively demanding works, such as Bach's St. John Passion, Brahms's German Requiem, Mendelssohn's oratorios Elijah and St. Paul, Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mozart's Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, Boris Papandopulo's Istrian Frescoes, Arthur Honegger's dramatic oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake, Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Britten's War Requiem, among others. In addition to the Choir and Symphony Orchestra of the Music Academy, vocal soloists from the Academy’s vocal department have undertaken significant opera projects. In collaboration with students and mentors from the Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Academy of Fine Arts, the Faculty of Textile Technology, and the Faculty of Architecture – Design Studies, performances of several operas have been realized. These include operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ivan the Terrible by Sergei Prokofiev, Carmen by Georges Bizet, The Nightingale by Igor Stravinsky, the premiere of Boris Papandopulo's Madame Buffault, and Cinderella by Jules Massenet, all directed by our leading directors. The centennial celebration of higher education at the Music Academy was marked by performances of works by Croatian composers Natko Devčić, Stanko Horvat, and Milko Kelemen at the Alumni 100 concert, an impressive staging of the opera-fable Animal Farm by Igor Kuljerić, and numerous other projects. From its inception, a special mission of the Music Academy's ensembles has been the preservation and promotion of Croatian musical heritage, both domestically and internationally.