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The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (= DSO) is Dunedin’s only professional orchestra and is funded by Creative New Zealand. They have established a reputation for the high calibre of our performances. Since 1966, the orchestra has been presenting its audiences with performances of a wide range of orchestral masterpieces featuring international and New Zealand conductors and soloists.
Dunedin is very much the home base of the orchestra and its players, and most of their performances take place in the city. As one of only four New Zealand City Orchestras, the orchestra is a key contributor to the city’s cultural vibrancy. The orchestra’s flagship is its annual five-concert series which encompasses music from the Baroque through to commissioned works. The orchestra’s versatility allows it to presents a wide range of other artists, such as Te Vaka, singers from the Dunedin Sound genre, etc. In addition, the orchestra accompanies City Choir Dunedin, Opera Otago and the Royal New Zealand Ballet, ensuring audiences can enjoy choral, operatic and ballet masterpieces too. They have also worked with Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ) on several innovative multi-artform projects.
They have a proud tradition of providing orchestral players in the community with a comprehensive range of educational projects to nurture future players, from the DSO Academy for younger, developing players, through to its University Scholarship for potential DSO players, and masterclasses and workshops for advanced players. The orchestra also presents chamber concerts at schools around Otago which enables access for those centred far from Dunedin. A very high proportion of the DSO players form the backbone of the city’s music teaching infrastructure, demonstrating how integral the orchestra is to the city and the University of Otago.
The orchestra has established a reputation for the high calibre of their performances, and for the conductors and soloists, we attract both from overseas and from New Zealand.
Soloists have included: Violinists Shlomo Mintz, Nigel Kennedy, Bella Hristova , Jack Liebeck, Lara St. John, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Natalia Lomeiko, Amalia Hall, Ilya Gringolts and Tessa Petersen; Cellists Julian Lloyd Webber, Raphael Wallfisch, Ashley Brown, Umberto Clerici, Li-Wei Qin and Heleen du Plessis; Clarinetist Michael Collins; Pianists Michael Houstoun, Nikolai Demidenko, Piers Lane, Kristian Chong, Modi Deng, Jian Liu, Terence Dennis and Tom McGrath; Singers Dame Malvina Major, Sir Donald McIntyre, Dame Cleo Laine, Anna Leese, Emma Fraser, Jonathan Lemalu, Paul Whelan, Deborah Wai Kapohe, Manase Latu and Joel Amosa; Guitarists Karin Schaupp, NZ Guitar Quartet; Flautists Bridget Douglas and Luca Manghi.
Conductors have included: Music Director and Principal Guest Conductors Jack Speirs, Nicholas Braithwaite, Werner Andreas Albert, Simon Over; International conductors: Jessica Cottis, Roy Goodman, Vladimir Verbitsky, Edvard Tchivzhel, Brett Kelly, Dane Lam, Benjamin Northey, Daniel Kossov, Richard Davis and José Luis Gomez; New Zealanders: Tecwyn Evans, Holly Mathieson, Kenneth Young, Marc Taddei, Hamish McKeich, David Burchell, Peter Adams and Tianyi Lu.
Annually the orchestra performs to approximately 20,000 people. Audience sizes have ranged from nearly 3,000 for Schools Concerts, 2,000 for light music concerts, 1,000 for the International Series concerts, to 400 (full house) for the Matinée Series concerts.
The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is acknowledged for its innovative projects. Highlights have included four collaborations with NHNZ, which have resulted in production of the commercially available videos and DVD’s Southern Journeys (a millennium commission), Sinfonia Antartica, Timeless Land and Equator – Circle of Life, and our collaboration with Otago Heritage Books, which resulted in the commercially released CD for From the Southern Marches.
Other highlights have included:
2009 : Portrait of Frances Hodgkins, celebrating the 140th birthday of the internationally acclaimed painter
2012 : The Topp Twins
2013 : The orchestra’s tour to Japan
2014 : Tally Ho! Dunedin Sound Songs & Singers
2015 : Tour of Portrait of Frances Hodgkins to Wanaka’s Festival of Colour
2016 : Gallipoli to The Somme composed by Anthony Ritchie
2017: Tally Ho! 2 Dunedin Sound Songs & Singers
2018 : Songs of Moana by Te Vaka and the DSO |
