The Israel Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1965 by the late Maestro Gary Bertini who served as its Music Director and conductor for 10 years. Subsequent Music Directors were Luciano Berio, Rudolph Barshai, Uri Segal, Yoav Talmi, Shlomo Mintz, Philippe Entremont, Salvador Mas Conde, Noam Sheriff, Gil Shohat and Roberto Paternostro. The orchestra’s current Music Director is Maestro Yoav Talmi who also holds the title of Conductor Emeritus of the Quebec Symphony, Canada and Head of Orchestral Conducting Department at the Buchman-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv University.

Many well-known artists have performed with the Israel Chamber Orchestra including Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Ahkenazy, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Miriam Fried, Joseph Kalichstein, Kryzstof Penderecki, Christoph Eschenbach, Yoel Levi, Jean Pierre Rampal, Paul Tortelier, Heinrich Schiff, Heinz Holliger, Sergiu Commissiona, Claude Frank, David Shallon, Tabea Zimmerman, and many others. The orchestra's repertoire ranges from early baroque to contemporary music. The orchestra tours extensively in Europe, the USA, Canada, South America and the Far East and takes part in prestigious international music festivals among them the Salzburg Festival, festivals in Istanbul, Helsinki, Athens, Pompeii, Sofia, Mitte Europa, Hong Kong and others. The orchestra collaborates with international record labels such as Chandos, Naxos, Music Masters, The Israel Music Institute (IMI), Koch and Teldec.

The Israel Chamber Orchestra is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Sport and by the Tel Aviv-Yaffo Municipality.