Orchestra Wellington
Orchestra Wellington is New Zealand's oldest professional regional orchestra, based in the capital city of Wellington. It hosts an annual subscription series of concerts in the Michael Fowler Centre, performing varied repertoire from the Classical, Romantic and contemporary periods. The orchestra commissions and performs works by New Zealand composers, with John Psathas ONZM the current composer-in-residence.[1] It also regularly accompanies Wellington stage performances by the Royal New Zealand Ballet and New Zealand Opera.[2]
Orchestra Wellington | |
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Orchestra | |
Short name | OW |
Former name | Alex Lindsay String Orchestra (1948–1966) Lindsay String Orchestra of Wellington (1967–1973) Wellington Regional Orchestra (1974–1991) Wellington Sinfonia (1992–2004) Vector Wellington Orchestra (2005–2012) |
Founded | 1948 |
Location | Wellington, New Zealand |
Concert hall | Michael Fowler Centre |
Principal conductor | Marc Taddei |
Website | www |
History
The orchestra was first established by New Zealand violinist Alex Lindsay as the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra in 1948, renamed the Lindsay String Orchestra of Wellington in 1967, and re-established with assistance from the national Arts Council in 1973 as the Wellington Regional Orchestra.[3] In 1991 the orchestra was renamed Wellington Sinfonia, and in 2005 renamed again to Vector Wellington Orchestra.[4] In 2012 the orchestra dropped the naming sponsorship from electricity company Vector and rebranded to its current name, Orchestra Wellington.[5]
References
- "Orchestra Wellington celebrates The Great Romantic in 2020". RNZ Concert: Upbeat. Radio New Zealand. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- "About Your Orchestra". Orchestra Wellington. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- Walls, Peter. "Orchestras: Regional orchestras". Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- "Wellington Sinfonia". National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
- Forbes, Michael (5 December 2012). "Merger proposal prompts Wellington orchestra rebrand". Dominion Post. Retrieved 26 October 2019.