Founded in 1952, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has taken its place as one of Canada's foremost orchestral ensembles. Its current roster includes 56 musicians from Canada and around the world, performing a wide-ranging repertoire from the great classical masterworks to pops and children's concerts. The Edmonton Symphony regards as its artistic mission to bring the highest quality of live orchestral performance to a broad spectrum of the community. This includes central and northern Alberta as well as national and international audiences through broadcasts and recordings. The ESO began its 'run-out' program in 1956 with a performance in Fort Saskatchewan. Since then, the orchestra has performed in venues across Alberta, western Canada and the Northwest Territories. In fact, the ESO became the first symphony orchestra to ever perform in the NWT back in 1959. The 1994 "Northern Lights" tour took the orchestra to Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Inuvik. At another run-out in 1996, the orchestra became the first in Canada to play on a First Nations reserve. In May 2012, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall as part of the Spring for Music festival.