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Story: Orchestras

Exhibition orchestra

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Exhibition orchestra

Alfred Hill is pictured conducting a performance of his 'Commemorative ode' for choir and orchestra at the opening of the New Zealand International Exhibition in Christchurch in 1906. Formed by Hill and conducted by him in a series of popular and classical concerts, the orchestra was the first fully professional one established in New Zealand, and the standards it achieved raised the expectations of local audiences.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/2-083978-F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Peter Walls, Orchestras – The first professional orchestras, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/44501/exhibition-orchestra (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Peter Walls, published 14 March 2014.