Sydney Symphony Orchestra

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is one of Australia's leading orchestras, founded by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (now the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) in 1932. Originally named the National Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, it adopted the new name of Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1946. From a small ensemble of 24 musicians, the orchestra grew to 45 players in 1936, and then increased to 82 by 1946. Artists appeared frequently with the SSO during World War II, among them Thomas Beecham, Antal Dorati, Arthur Rubinstein, Artur Schnabel, and Bronislaw Huberman. Eugene Goossens became the first conductor of the SSO, and he was succeeded by Nikolai Malko, Dean Dixon, Moshe Atzmón, Willem van Otterloo, Charles MacKerras, Zdenek Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and since 2014, David Robertson. The orchestra is based in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.