Classical

Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia, celebrating its centenary in 2007.
The MSO performs to more than 250,000 people in Melbourne and regional Victoria in over 150 concerts a year. The Orchestra has performed with renowned artists such as Igor Stravinsky, Mariss Jansons, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Jessye Norman, Artur Rubinstein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Hakan Hagegard, Geoffrey Lancaster, Emanuel Ax, Jeffrey Tate, Sumi Jo, and Nigel Kennedy.

Henri Tomasi (August 17, 1901 – January 13, 1971) was a French classical composer and conductor. Henri Tomasi was born in Marseille, France, in the working class neighborhood on August 17, 1901. His father Xavier Tomasi and mother Josephine Vincensi were originally from La Casinca, Corsica. At the age of five, Henri and his family moved to Mazarques, France where his father had a job as a postal worker. At this time his father enrolled Henri in music theory lessons. At the age of seven, Henri entered the Conservatoire de Musique de Marseille.

Cellist Wendy Sutter received degrees from both the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School. A native of Seattle, she made her solo debut with the Seattle Symphony at age sixteen. Awarded the first prize in the Juilliard cello competition, Ms Sutter made her New York solo concerto debut at Avery Fisher Hall in the New York premiere of Kaddish for cello and orchestra by composer David Diamond.

1932 was a momentous year for Sydney. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, an engineering miracle of the day was opened in March. In July 1932 the Australian Broadcasting Corporation was established, and with it the group of musicians that would become the Sydney Symphony. The Orchestra consisted of just 24 players, who performed incidental music for radio plays, music for the dinner hour and broadcasts of concert repertoire.