The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is the largest professional
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, based in the city of
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
. It was established in 1958 as the John Ritchie String Orchestra, due to the vision and encouragement of Christchurch composer John Ritchie. It was renamed the Christchurch Civic Orchestra four years later in 1962, and has used its current name since 1974.
Currently, the CSO has an established core of principal and tenured players with additional contracted casual players. The orchestra performs in over fifty concerts a year including performances for the
Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is a ballet company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was originally known as The New Zealand Ballet Company.
History
New Zealand Ballet was established in 1953 as an independent charitable trust by Royal Danish ...
Christchurch City Council
The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
with its Community Engagement Programme.
The Chief Conductor since 2015 is the Australian conductor
Benjamin Northey
Benjamin Northey is an Australian conductor, musician and arranger. He has been Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand, since 2015.
Bic Runga
Briolette Kah Bic Runga (born 13 January 1976), recording as Bic Runga, is a New Zealand singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist pop artist. Her first three studio albums debuted at number one on the Recording Industry Association of New Ze ...
the Adults
The Adults is a "collaborative name" used for two different recording projects led by New Zealand musician and Shihad frontman Jon Toogood. The first iteration of the Adults was a New Zealand rock supergroup that released a self-titled album in ...
in 2012,
Anika Moa
Anika Rose Moa (born 21 May 1980) is a New Zealand recording artist and television presenter. Her debut album ''Thinking Room'', was released in September 2001, which reached number one on the New Zealand Albums Chart and provided two Top ...
and
Julia Deans
Julia Mary Deans (born 27 August 1974) is a New Zealand singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of rock band Fur Patrol.
Banshee Reel
In the early '90s Deans joined Wellington-based Celtic rock band Banshee Reel. The group released ...
in 2015, and
Tiki Taane
Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand-based musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pur ...
, Big Sima, and Tali in 2021. name="Tiki Taane's Family Affair">