The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous

Crown entity A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''The Crown, Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's public sector organisations in New Zealand, state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governa ...

owned by the

New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

, per the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004. It is currently based in the

Michael Fowler Centre The Michael Fowler Centre is a concert hall and convention centre in Wellington, New Zealand. It was constructed on Reclamation of Wellington Harbour, reclaimed land next to Civic Square, Wellington, Civic Square, and is the pre-eminent concert s ...

and frequently performed in the adjacent

Wellington Town Hall The Wellington Town Hall () is a concert hall and part of the municipal complex in Wellington, New Zealand, which opened in December 1904. It has been closed to the public since the 2013 Seddon earthquake for extensive strengthening work, and ...

before it was closed in 2013. It also performs in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

History

A national orchestra for New Zealand was first proposed with the founding of the Radio Broadcasting Company in 1925, and broadcasting studio orchestras operated in major cities from the late 1920s. A national orchestra was formed in 1939 for New Zealand's Centennial Exhibition in 1940. The orchestra became permanent in 1946 in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as the "National Orchestra of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service" (by Oswald Cheesman and others); the inaugural concert took place on 6 March 1947. It was managed as a department of the

New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

, which later became

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

, as the NZBC National Orchestra. The orchestra was renamed the NZBC Symphony Orchestra in 1963, and in 1975 renamed again to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In 1988, the orchestra became fully independent of Radio New Zealand, and began operating as an independent Crown-owned company. Even after the formal separation of the orchestra from Radio New Zealand, NZSO performances continue to be recorded, broadcast and archived by Radio New Zealand Concert.

Auckland Town Hall The Auckland Town Hall is an Edwardian architecture, Edwardian building on Queen Street, Auckland, Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand, known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions (such as Local authority, ...

and

performances are broadcast live-to-air and streamed online, and performances in other centres or overseas cities are usually recorded and broadcast at later dates. In 2022 the orchestra performed a special 75th anniversary concert, conducted by Gemma New.

Performances

Touring

The NZSO has always had a heavy touring schedule within New Zealand. It performed in

as early as 1947. It performs its core series of 12 programmes in

and

, about half of those in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, Christchurch and

, and visits several provincial cities each year. It has several times toured overseas, notably in 2005 to the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

, the

Snape Maltings Britten Pears Arts is a large music education organisation based in Suffolk, England. It aims to continue the legacy of composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, singer Peter Pears, and to promote the enjoyment and experience of music for all ...

, the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and the World Expo at

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Conductors

Franz-Paul Decker was the last NZSO conductor to have the title of chief conductor, and had the title of Conductor Laureate until his death in May 2014. The first conductor to have the title of Music Director of the NZSO was

James Judd James Judd (born 30 October 1949) is a British conductor. Early life and education James Judd grew up in Hertford, learning the piano, flute and organ as a child and discovering his talent for conducting at high school. He studied at the Trinity ...

, from 1999 to 2007. Judd is now the orchestra's Music Director Emeritus. In May 2007, Pietari Inkinen was named the NZSO's second Music Director, and he formally took up the post in January 2008. Inkinen concluded his NZSO tenure in 2015 and subsequently took the title of honorary conductor. In June 2015, the NZSO announced the appointment of

Edo de Waart Edo de Waart (born 1 June 1941, Amsterdam) is a Dutch retired conductor. He is Music Director Laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. De Waart is the former music director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (2016-2019), chief conductor ...

as its next music director, with his first concerts in March 2016. De Waart's last concert as Music Director was in November 2019. In 2020 he became NZSO Conductor Laureate. NZSO Associate Conductor Hamish McKeich was appointed NZSO Principal Conductor in Residence from January 2020. Gemma New was appointed the orchestra's artistic director and principal conductor in 2022, the first woman to hold the position. The orchestra's affiliated conductors to date include: * Anderson Tyrer (1947–1950) *

Michael Bowles Michael Andrew Bowles (; 30 November 1909 – 6 April 1998) was an Irish conductor and composer, who was also active in New Zealand, the US, and England. Life Bowles was born in Riverstown, County Sligo, and grew up in Boyle, County Roscommon, ...

(1950–1953) *

Warwick Braithwaite Henry Warwick Braithwaite (9 January 1896 – 19 January 1971) was a New Zealand-born orchestral conductor. He worked mostly in Great Britain and was especially known for his work in opera. Early life and family Braithwaite was one of the younges ...

(1953–1954) * James Robertson (1954–1957) * John Hopkins (1957–1963) * Juan Matteucci (1964–1969) *

Franz-Paul Decker Franz-Paul Decker (26 June 1923 – 19 May 2014) was a German-born conductor. Life Decker was born in Cologne, Germany, where he studied at the Hochschule für Musik with Philip Jarnach and Eugen Papst. He made his conducting debut at the ag ...

(1991–1996, chief conductor) *

(1999–2007, music director) *

Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen (born 29 April 1980) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. Biography Inkinen was born in Kouvola, Finland, and began violin and piano studies at the age of 4. As a youth, he also performed in a rock band. He attended the Sibe ...

(2008–2015, music director) *

(2016–2019, music director) *

Hamish McKeich Hamish John McKeich (born 13 May 1967) is a New Zealand bassoon player and conductor. He is principal conductor in residence of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Early life and education McKeich was born in Christchurch on 13 May 1967, the ...

(2016–2019, associate conductor; 2020–present, principal conductor in residence) * Gemma New (2022, principal conductor)

Guest conductors

In 1961

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

and his associate conductor

Robert Craft Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books. ...

conducted the orchestra in a programme of Stravinsky's works.

Recordings

The NZSO has recorded several LPs and many CDs, several with internationally known soloists such as

Alessandra Marc Alessandra Marc, born Judith Borden (born July 29, 1957) is an American dramatic soprano who has appeared at many of the world's opera houses and orchestras. Marc is particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Strauss, Richa ...

and

Donald McIntyre Sir Donald Conroy McIntyre (born 22 October 1934 in Auckland) is an operatic bass-baritone from New Zealand. Operatic career McIntyre made his formal debut as Zaccaria in ''Nabucco'', at the Welsh National Opera, in 1959. In 1964 he created ...

. In the last decade it has sold 500,000 CDs. It records at least one CD of

New Zealand music The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including ...

each year. It has made a number of recordings on the American Koch label and now (2007) records regularly with Naxos. The latest recordings are two CDs of music by

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

and one CD of music by

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a List of compositions by Einojuhani Rautavaara, gre ...

. In 2012, the NZSO collaborated with Booktrack and

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

to create music for an enhanced edition of Rusdhie's short story '' In the South ''. The NZSO recorded part of

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' fi ...

's score for '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'', notably the "Mines of Moria" sequence, as well as an alternate version of the cue "The Breaking of the Fellowship". The NZSO also performed and recorded Howard Shore's score for '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'' and '' The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'', and most recently

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician and composer. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead vocalist and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 20 single in the US ...

's score for ''

A Minecraft Movie ''A Minecraft Movie'' is a 2025 American fantasy film, fantasy Adventure film, adventure comedy film based on the 2011 video game ''Minecraft'' by Mojang Studios. It was directed by Jared Hess and written by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer, Neil ...

''. An NZSO recording of works by Pulitzer Prize-winning Chinese composer

Zhou Long Zhou Long (; born July 8, 1953) is a Chinese American composer. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Biography Zhou Long was born in Beijing, China. Born into an artistic family, he began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artist ...

and the Symphony ‘Humen 1839’, written in collaboration with compatriot Chen Yi, was nominated for Best Orchestral Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2016. Singaporean

Darrell Ang Darrell is a given name derived from an English surname, which was derived from Norman-French , originally denoting one who came from Airelle in France. There are no longer any towns in France called Airelle, but is the French word for huckleber ...

conducted the recording, which was recorded in Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre in June 2013 and released on the Naxos label in May 2015. It was the first Grammy nomination for the NZSO. In 2020 the NZSO collaborated with composer Claire Cowan to produce a recording of the music from the original ballet "

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

", which had been commissioned by The Royal New Zealand Ballet the preceding year. The album won the 2021

Aotearoa Music Award The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

for Best Classical Album.

Subsidiary orchestras

National Youth Orchestra

The NZSO National Youth Orchestra was founded by John Hopkins in 1959. It auditions afresh each year and, after an intensive rehearsal schedule, performs one programme, in 2007 to be repeated in

and

. The NYO celebrated its 50th Anniversary Celebratory Season in 2009, under the baton of

Paul Daniel Paul Daniel (born 5 July 1958) is an English conductor. Biography Early life Daniel was born in Birmingham. As a boy, he sang in the choir of Coventry Cathedral, where he received musical training; then studied music at King's College, Cambri ...

, with John Chen as soloist and Ben Morrison as Concertmaster. Their programme was

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's 7th Symphony,

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

's Left-Hand piano concerto and an original composition by Natalie Hunt, ''Only to the Highest Mountain''. The 2009 season also saw the return of John Hopkins to join in the celebrations. National Youth Orchestra Composer-in-Residence scheme In 2005 the orchestra inaugurated its Composer-in-Residence scheme appointing Robin Toan as first recipient of the award. List of recipients * 2005 Robin Toan * 2006 Claire Cowan * 2007 Karlo Margetić * 2008 Tabea Squire * 2009 Natalie Hunt * 2011 Alexandra Hay * 2012 Alex Taylor * 2013 Sam Logan * 2014 Sarah Ballard * 2015

Salina Fisher Salina Fisher (born 6 October 1993) is a New Zealand composer and violinist currently based in Wellington. Fisher was Concertmaster of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra in 2012-2013. She graduated from the New Zealand School of Music and then s ...

* 2016 Celeste Oram * 2017 Reuben Jelleyman * 2018 Josiah Carr * 2019 Glen Downie * 2020 Joshua Pearson * 2021 Ihlara McIndoe * 2022 David Mason * 2023 Nathaniel Otley * 2024 Jessie Leov * 2025 Luka Venter

New Zealand Chamber Orchestra

The New Zealand Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1987 by NZSO

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist Stephen Managh, its first leader, and comprises members of the NZSO. Later renamed the NZSO Chamber Orchestra, they toured and recorded extensively for 13 years. They generally performed without a conductor under the direction of their first violinist and Musical Director Donald Armstrong. They are not currently performing.

References

External links

NZSO website
online September 1994, it claims to be the first orchestra website in the world.
DiscographyNZSO music samplesRadio New Zealand Concert onlineNew Zealand Symphony Orchestra archival collection
at the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

* {{Authority control

Symphony Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

New Zealand orchestras Musical groups established in 1946 Former radio and television orchestras Symphony orchestras National orchestras RNZ Concert