Cirrus@Austlit

An Australian conductor and academic Bernard Heinze played a significant role in his country's musical and cultural development during the early to mid-twentieth century. Among the positions he held during his career were Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and chief conductor for both the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (1927- ca. 1960s) and the ABC (1933-1950). He was also guest conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 1939. He introduced Australian audiences to the works of Anton Bruckner, Dmitri Shostakovich, Béla Bartók and William Walton, and promoted Australian composers. In 1949 he became the first Australian ever to be knighted for services to music.