The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is an Australian ensemble consisting of over 70 musicians and noted for its concert performances and for providing support to the State Opera of South Australia, the Australian Ballet, Opera Australia, and the Adelaide Festival. Founded in 1936 to replace the South Australia Orchestra, the ASO was financed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and led by William Cole. By 1949, the orchestra had been renamed as the South Australian Symphony Orchestra, but the previous name was restored in 1975. Among the orchestra's conductors were Elyakum Shapirra, Piero Gamba, Albert Rosen, Nicholas Braithwaite, David Porcelijn, and Arvo Volmer. In 1998, Asher Fisch and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra performed Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen for the State Opera of South Australia, receiving critical praise for the orchestra's first performance of the tetralogy since 1913. The ASO has received funding to commission several works, including Gerard Brophy's The Blue Thread, Natalie Williams' Our Don, and Iain Grandage's ANZAC Requiem, which commemorated the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps' landings at Gallipoli in World War I. ~ Blair Sanderson, Rovi