Hermann Heinicke was inspired to set up an orchestra in Adelaide after the visit of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1891. The MSO gave a couple of concerts in Adelaide with Marshall Hall conducting. His idea to form an orchestra was support by Herr Reimann Director of the Adelaide School of Music at the time. He publicly called for interest and receive over 100 applications to join the orchestra. Charles Cawthorne who had been involved with Adelaide musicians for many years, assisted in the selection of the musicians. Auditions were held and the membership duly established. The first season was planned with 12 concerts in mind for the period of May – October. All players were involved in selling tickets with the 2^nd horn player achieving the best results averaging 1800 tickets per year. The initial concerts were carefully programmed using popular repertoire and solo singers on a regular basis. All concerts were very well supported by the Adelaide public. For years Heinicke played 5 nights per week and provided orchestras for gatherings all over South Australia. His orchestra played for 7 full years to booked out houses.

-sourced from Reminiscences by Hermann Heinicke.

- P Blackman