New Zealand Symphony Orchestra  The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004. It is currently based in the Michael Fowler Centre and frequently performs also in the adjacent Wellington Town Hall. It also performs in Auckland and Christchurch and Dunedin. A national orchestra for New Zealand was first proposed with the founding of the Radio Broadcasting Company in 1925, and broadcasting studio orchestras operated in major cities from the late 1920s. A national orchestra was formed in 1939 for New Zealand's Centennial Exhibition in 1940. The orchestra became permanent in 1946 in the aftermath of World War II as the "National Orchestra of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service" (by Oswald Cheesman and others); the inaugural concert took place on 6 March 1947. It was managed as a department of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, which later became Radio New Zealand, as the NZBC National Orchestra and later the NZBC Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra was renamed the NZBC Symphony Orchestra in 1963, still being administered by Radio New Zealand. In 1975, it became the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In 1988, the orchestra became fully independent of Radio New Zealand, and began operating as an independent Crown-owned company under its current name, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Even after the formal separation of the orchestra from Radio New Zealand, NZSO performances continue to be recorded, broadcast and archived by Radio New Zealand Concert. Auckland Town Hall, Wellington Town Hall and Michael Fowler Centre performances are broadcast live-to-air and streamed online, and performances in other centres or overseas cities are usually recorded and broadcast at later dates. The NZSO has always had a heavy touring schedule within New Zealand. It performed in Christchurch as early as 1947. It performs its core series of 12 programmes in Wellington and Auckland, about half of those in Hamilton, Christchurch and Dunedin, and visits several provincial cities each year. It has several times toured overseas, notably in 2005 to the BBC Proms, the Snape Maltings, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the World Expo at Aichi in Japan. Franz-Paul Decker was the last NZSO conductor to have the title of chief conductor, and had the title of Conductor Laureate until his death in May 2014. The first conductor to have the title of Music Director of the NZSO was James Judd, from 1999 to 2007. Judd is now the orchestra's Music Director Emeritus.