Linda Moorhouse, the orchestra's president and chief executive (and who appears in the calendar), said the calendar should help rid the orchestra of its uptight image. "People always think of Canton in the Rust Belt," she said. "We want people to know we have a first-class orchestra and some pretty classy ladies, too."

Some of the images are more provocative than others; one woman wears only a pair of cymbals.

The 2003 film Calendar Girls inspired orchestra supporter Roberta Gordon to propose the idea.