| Biography | The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players. The orchestra was officially founded in 1946. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004 established the orchestra as an autonomous Crown entity. 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 tours the country and the world.
The NZSO recorded part of Howard Shore's score for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, notably the "Mines of Moria" sequence, as well as an alternate version of the cue "The Breaking of the Fellowship". The score won an Academy Award, the Grammy Award, and the World Soundtrack Award.[6] The album peaked at number ten on the UK Albums Chart.[7] NZSO also performed and recorded the entire score for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, which was also composed by Shore. |