The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra originated on December 11, 1906 as the Albert
Street Conservatorium Orchestra, founded by conductor Alberto Zelman in
Melbourne, Australia; it became the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1927 after
merging with the Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra. The ensemble first
gained national prominence as one of the Australian Broadcasting Commission's
radio orchestras in 1934 and later as the Victorian Symphony Orchestra in 1949,
before reclaiming its original name in 1965. In 1997, the orchestra became a
wholly owned subsidiary of the ABC, only to ...