The Insula Orchestra was founded in 2012 by conductor Laurence Equilbey. Integral to the unique sound world imagined by Equilbey, the Insula Orchestra has collaborated with Equilbey's choral group Accentus and other major vocal and instrumental artists.

The orchestra is one of the few large ensembles to regularly play music of the Romantic era on period instruments. As such, the Insula Orchestra has performed orchestral music from the Classical and Romantic periods, with Mozart, Schubert, and Weber often forming the core of its programs. It has also performed and recorded with Accentus and with other choral ensembles. With financial support from the Conseil départemental des Hauts-de-Seine, the group has landed slots at major French and international venues and leading festivals. The Insula Orchestra rethinks classical orchestra concerts with the stated aim of drawing new audiences. It has specifically tailored its sound to large symphonic spaces, with a self-presentation influenced by opera, and it has also made ample use of new digital media, including Internet series associated with specific projects. In 2017, the orchestra inaugurated a new music venue, La Seine Musicale, on an island in the Seine River downstream from Paris. The structure was designed by architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines. Among the soloists with whom the Insula Orchestra has appeared are singers Sandrine Piau, Werner Güra, Franco Fagioli, and Ann Hallenberg. The orchestra has also appeared with top soloists on period instruments such as violinist Antoine Tamestit and pianists Abdel Rahman El Bacha and Kristian Bezuidenhout. As of 2020, the orchestra had a membership of 23 players. Insula's 2020-2021 season included a presentation of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, as well as "Insula Invites" collaborative concerts with the early music group Il Pomo d'Oro and other groups.

After a 2014 recording of Mozart's Requiem, K. 626, on the Naïve label, the Insula Orchestra has recorded exclusively for Erato. In 2017, the orchestra appeared on Equilbey's Nacht Träume, a collection of mostly historical orchestral arrangements of songs by Schubert. The orchestra returned in 2019 with a recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56, and, with Accentus, Choral Fantasy, Op. 80. In 2020, the orchestra released Magic Mozart, a collection of vocal-orchestral Mozart pieces on the theme of magic. ~ James Manheim, Rovi