The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has announced the signing of a prestigious international TV agreement with UNITEL. This makes it the first Australian orchestra to be included in the stable of the leading distributor of classical music for TV, DVD & Blu-ray, cinema and new media, alongside some of the world’s great institutions, artists, festivals and orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw, Orchestre de Paris and Statskapelle Dresden.

Under the partnership, with broadcasts starting in 2019, UNITEL will distribute eight MSO concerts each year. The deal accommodates the MSO’s existing distribution agreements with Foxtel Arts and the ABC.

Current Managing Director of UNITEL, Ernst Buchrucker, said the company was delighted by the partnership and that this agreement “is a mark of the quality of the MSO’s artistic output and we know that its performances will be applauded by viewers throughout Europe, America and Asia.”

MSO general manager Sophie Galaise told Limelight: “I approached UNITEL with a producer’s help. This was a long and interesting process, it took nearly two years. Why did I think it was so important: like many I am convinced of the quality of the MSO. This is an orchestra that can sustain the...