Zelman Symphony capacity audiences of Mahler's epic Eighth Symphony - the "Symphony of a Thousand" - at the Melbourne Town Hall. In what was believed to be "a first" for an Australian Community Orchestra, the performances involved over 580 performers including an augmented Zelman Symphony of some 125 players led by Guest Concertmaster, Wilma Smith, Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO), and featuring many guest principal players from the MSO and other top orchestras and music institutions. David Macfarlane played the magnificent organ, a 370 voice choir was formed from nine community choirs, and an 80 voice children's choir involved students
Symphony No. 69 (Haydn) Symphony No. 69 (Haydn) The Symphony No. 69 is a symphony by Joseph Haydn in C major, Hoboken I/69, known as the "Laudon" symphony. Composed around 1775–1776, it represents a stylistic departure from the composer's earlier intense Sturm und Drang period and was written at the same time as Haydn was writing numerous comic operas. Despite the lighter tone, however, the symphony is "as finely crafted, as interesting, indeed as original, as the preceding ones, albeit very different in character." The nickname originated with Haydn's publisher Artaria, who issued a version for solo piano in the mid-1770s. As a device