Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

This orchestra was founded by the conductor Alberto Zelman and gave its first performance in 1906. After having no breaks in its continuity since that time it is recognized as being the oldest professional orchestra in Australia and is funded by the Victoria State Department and supported by donors and private corporations.

The orchestra has played host to many acclaimed artists including Nigel Kennedy, Maxim Vengerov, Artur Rubinstein, Igor Stravinsky and Yehudi Menuhin and performs over 150 concerts every year.

It has 100 musicians and since 2013 its chief conductor has been Sir Andrew Davies, with its longest serving conductor being Hiroyuki Iwaki who was named Conductor Laureate, but died in 2006. Wilma Smith was their concertmaster until 2014, and she was one of the only women to hold this position in an orchestra anywhere in the world at that time.

It has made many successful international tours in the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, China and at many venues in Europe. In 2014 he gave its debut at the BBC Proms in London and then at the Edinburgh Festival.

They also have appeared on Australian television and their recordings and performances have been heard with a number of popular artists including the rock band KISS on their KISS Symphony, Meat Loaf, with the DVD recording of the concert reaching No. 1 in the UK music DVD charts, Ben Folds, Elton John, The Three Tenors, Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr.

The films Babe, Six Degrees of Separation, The Dish, IQ and Hotel Sorrento, as well as the video games of Jurassic Parkand The Polar Express, have all featured the orchestra on the soundtracks.

Richard Addinsell recordings
Warsaw Concerto (Richard Addinsell)
DG 413 259-2 (CD: Warsaw Concerto)
Conductor – Patrick Thomas
Piano – Isador Goodman

Sources:

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Navigation