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 of the New World overwhelmed with it. I just wish it could have lasted. The inspiration that this could be done [remains] in all of us." A commemorative exhibit on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Symphony of the New World was held at the New York Public Library in 2014. The orchestra's papers reside at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Symphony of the New World The Symphony of the New World was a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It was the first racially integrated orchestra in the United States. The Symphony gave its debut concert on