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Collections Related to Australian Musical Culture
A.E.H. Nickson Collection - music, books, personal papers, including a collection of music by the German late Romantic composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933).
Noel Nickson Collection -papers relating to his research into the court music of the Tang Dynasty
Alberto Zelman - personal papers, photographs, programs, correspondence, and newsclippings relating to the life of this important figure in Australia's musical history.
Horace Stevens - personal papers.
Royal Victorian Liedertafel Collection - documents, photographs, programs, scores and memorabilia, including records of several other Liedertafeln associated with, or amalgamated into the Royal Victorian Liedertafel.
Shirley Schneider Collection - documents and ephemera, including concert programs relating to Australian musical performances from 1902 onwards.
Melbourne Orchestral Programs Collection - concert programs relating to musical events, mainly in Melbourne, from 1926 to 1941.
Kogan Collection - concert programs of the Victorian/Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Professor Laver Collection - documents relating to the life of the first Australian-born Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne from 1915-25.
Matilda Kirke Collection - 19th century piano and vocal music.
Dorian Le Gallienne - scores belonging to Dorian Le Gallienne.
Music, books, personal papers, including a collection of music by the German late Romantic composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933).
Papers relating to his research into the court music of the Tang Dynasty
Personal papers, photographs, programs, correspondence, and newsclippings relating to the life of this important figure in Australia's musical history. Alberto Zelman Jnr (1874–1927), like his father, was a well-known and loved Melbourne musician. A gifted violinist from a young age, he played in G.W.L. Marshall-Hall’s orchestra for some years, leading the second violins.   In 1906 he founded the largely-amateur Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which he was to conduct until his death. He also conducted short-lived professional orchestras, including the Musicians’ Union Professional Orchestra and the Victorian Professional Orchestra.   Zelman was active as a chamber musician, founding two string quartets, and he taught violin at the Marshall-Hall Conservatorium and later the University of Melbourne Conservatoriums, where he was an effective and well-loved teacher. During a visit to Europe in 1922, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras with his wife, Maude Harrington, as soprano soloist.   The Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra was founded by his followers in 1933 and is still active today.  
Alberto Zelman Jnr (1874–1927), like his father, was a well-known and loved Melbourne musician. A gifted violinist from a young age, he played in G.W.L. Marshall-Hall’s orchestra for some years, leading the second violins.   In 1906 he founded the largely-amateur Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which he was to conduct until his death. He also conducted short-lived professional orchestras, including the Musicians’ Union Professional Orchestra and the Victorian Professional Orchestra.   Zelman was active as a chamber musician, founding two string quartets, and he taught violin at the Marshall-Hall Conservatorium and later the University of Melbourne Conservatoriums, where he was an effective and well-loved teacher. During a visit to Europe in 1922, he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras with his wife, Maude Harrington, as soprano soloist.   The Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra was founded by his followers in 1933 and is still active today.
Personal papers
Documents, photographs, programs, scores and memorabilia, including records of several other Liedertafeln associated with, or amalgamated into the Royal Victorian Liedertafel. Choral singing was a vibrant part of musical life in colonial and early 20th-century Melbourne. The Metropolitan and Melbourne (originally Melbourner Deutsche) Liedertafel—essentially German-influenced male-voice choirs—were among the largest and most influential and were run as private societies.   Concerts and venues varied: the choirs were highly social as well as musical. Conventional concerts, some also involving female choristers, alternated with men-only ‘smoke nights’, where audience and participants would smoke and drink at tables. There were occasional concerts by moonlight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the zoo and even on paddle-steamers. Incoming and outgoing governors were routinely ‘serenaded’.   The two choirs amalgamated in 1905 to become the Royal Victorian Liedertafel.  
Documents and ephemera, including concert programs relating to Australian musical performances from 1902 onwards.
Concert programs relating to musical events, mainly in Melbourne, from 1926 to 1941.
Concert programs of the Victorian/Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Documents relating to the life of the first Australian-born Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne from 1915-25.
19th century piano and vocal music.
Scores belonging to Dorian Le Gallienne.