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Bernard Freyberg

A First World War hero and commander of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Bernard Freyberg was British-born but New Zealand-raised. He proved to be a charismatic and popular military leader who would later serve a term as Governor-General

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Today in History

6 March

1947 Debut performance of NZ Symphony Orchestra

Until the 1940 Centennial celebrations, symphonic music in New Zealand was provided by various orchestras formed in the cities and larger towns. The success of the Centennial Festival Orchestra, under the direction of Andersen Tyrer, encouraged the government to form a permanent national orchestra. The decision was made to place this orchestra under the administration of the National Broadcasting Service, but the Second World War delayed its creation.

In 1946 leading musicians were brought together for the first rehearsals of the newly constituted National Orchestra. Andersen Tyrer was appointed the first conductor and Vincent Aspey the orchestra leader.

The debut performance at Wellington’s Town Hall opened with the obligatory performance of God Save the King, before the Orchestra performed pieces from Dvorak, Brahms, Butterworth, Enesco, Wagner and Richard Strauss.