Profile
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
| Harold Mitchell AO | Chairman |
| Mathew VanBesien | Managing Director |
| Tadaaki Otaka | Principal Guest Conductor |
With a reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s internationally-acclaimed and oldest orchestra, established in 1906. Following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008, the Orchestra has responsibility for its own choir - the MSO Chorus.
This fine Orchestra is renowned for its performances of the great symphonic masterworks with leading international and Australian artists including Mariss Jansons, Jessye Norman, Jennifer Larmore, Bryn Terfel, Maxim Vengerov, John Williams, Osmo Vänska, Paavo Järvi, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Donald Runnicles, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Barbara Bonney, Yvonne Kenny, Sir Charles Mackerras, Marcello Viotti, Simone Young, Lang Lang, Nigel Kennedy, Jeffrey Tate and Midori. It has also enjoyed hugely-successful performances with the Three Tenors, Frank Sinatra, Kiri Te Kanawa, Elton John, John Farnham, Dionne Warwick, Andrea Bocelli, Harry Connick, Jr. kd lang, Stevie Nicks, Ben Folds, KISS, Meat Loaf, Burt Bacharach and The Whitlams.
Key musical figures in the Orchestra's history include Hiroyuki Iwaki – who was Chief Conductor and then Conductor Laureate, between 1974 and his death in 2006 – and Markus Stenz, who was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director from 1998 until 2004. Oleg Caetani was the MSO’s Chief Conductor and Artistic Director from 2005 to 2009. In 2007 Caetani led the Orchestra on its second European tour to Spain, Paris, Berlin and Milan.
The MSO has received widespread international recognition in overseas tours to the United States of America, Canada, Japan, Korea, Europe (2000), China (2002), St Petersburg, Russia (2003) and Japan (2005).
Each year the Orchestra performs to more than 250,000 people in Melbourne and regional Victoria, at events ranging from the annual series of Sidney Myer Free Concerts in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to the series of Classic Kids concerts for young children. The MSO reaches an even larger audience across Australia through its regular concert broadcasts on ABC Classic FM.
Some performances are presented on ABC TV, including the documentary To Russia with Love about the MSO’s St Petersburg tour and MSO Century in celebration of 100 years of the Orchestra. In addition, the Orchestra has also published a centenary book entitled Crescendo, by Stella M. Barber.
Recent recordings include major CD releases on the Chandos and ABC Classics labels. The MSO’s three Chandos recordings of Alexandre Tansman’s symphonies with Oleg Caetani all received Diapason d’Or awards. In 2005 the Orchestra launched a new live-in-concert CD series, MSO LIVE through ABC Classics. One of these CDs is devoted to the final concert given in Australia by Sir Charles Mackerras, with the MSO in November 2007.
In addition, members of the Orchestra have featured on numerous film soundtracks including those for such major motion pictures as Babe, IQ, Hotel Sorrento, Six Degrees of Separation, Babe II – Pig in the City and The Dish. The MSO has also recorded music for a number of computer and console-based games based on films such as Jurassic Park and The Polar Express .
