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 only thoroughly trained, top-flight performers. In creating job opportunities for the many talented nonwhite instrumentalists who hitherto have not been widely accepted in this nation's symphony orchestras, the Symphony of the New World aims to serve as an example of the principle of racial-equality-in-action to musical groups throughout the country. In the belief that so many of our symphony orchestras are not of today's world, it has called itself the Symphony of the New World. The Symphony has been granted tax exempt status by the Department of Internal Revenue so that tax deductible contributions can be made to support what