NZBC Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand's National Symphony Orchestra was established in 1946 with a complement of 65 players by the New Zealand Broadcasting Service, a government department.
It gave its first concert on 6 March 1947. The Orchestra has been in a form of government ownership ever since its establishment. In early 1964 The National Orchestra became know as the N.Z.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, performing for stage, radio or television.
At the time for a 25-hour working week, the basic annual rates were: £1250 for orchestral members, £1325 for subprincipals, £1425 for principals and £1675 for the subleader. Annual leave was extended from two to three weeks.
In 1988 it was separated from broadcasting on the dissolution of the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand and became a Crown Entity constituted as a limited liability company.
In 2004 it was established as a non-company Crown Entity. This reflected the Orchestra’s then non-commercial nature and the public policy objectives the Crown had in its interests in and ownership of the Orchestra.
