The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, formerly known as Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, was founded in 1900. It is the second oldest orchestra in the USA west of the Rocky Mountains. The orchestra now plays at Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu.

The orchestra was originally housed in a clubhouse on the slopes of Punchbowl. From 1996 to 2004, the orchestra was under the direction of conductor Samuel Wong. In August 2007, Andreas Delfs, current music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, officially became principal conductor of the orchestra. He led seven concerts per season in the orchestra's Halekulani Masterworks series. From 2010 to present, JoAnn Falletta has served as the artistic advisor of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. Ignace Jang is concertmaster.

Previous music directors included Fritz Hart (1937–49), George Barati (1950-1967), Robert La Marchina, Donald Johanos (1979–94) and JoAnn Falletta (artistic advisor).

In 2014, the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra debuted its popular series musicthatPOPS, featuring Broadway music, Disney in Concert, Cirque de la Symphonie and Zelda in Concert, among others.