The Women Composers Orchestra was formed in 1985 under the name of the Maryland Women’s Symphony. The purpose of the WCO was to perform compositions of women composers both past and present, and to make women’s compositions a part of the musical mainstream. The WCO was based in Baltimore and gave two to five concerts per year, mostly within the city. The WCO performed at the Peabody Conservatory, the Johns Hopkins University, and other local and regional colleges and museums. It was conducted exclusively by women but included both men and women, and for this reason the name was changed from the Maryland Women’s Symphony to the Women Composers Orchestra in 1988.

The WCO was managed by an all-volunteer board of directors with a variety of professional and managerial backgrounds. Financial support came from admissions, memberships, grants, and fundraising events. To operate within its financial resources, the board kept a high quality of performances by reducing the number of musicians but paying them union wages. However, this was not enough to keep the orchestra afloat, and the last concert of the Women Composers Orchestra was held on May 20, 1995.