Enzso is the Electric New Zealand Symphony Orchestra – a project that brought together the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with contemporary artists, notably from rock, pop, & alternative music genres.
The concept was about blending classical orchestral arrangements with electric/amplified modern music, creating unique collaborative performances. It was quite a notable cultural phenomenon in New Zealand, featuring collaborations with various Kiwi artists and producing some memorable concerts and recordings.
Enzso was the project led by Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conductor Peter Scholes and the New Zealand National Youth Choir to create symphonic, fully orchestrated versions of Split Enz classics.
In addition, former Enz members Neil Finn and Tim Finn, along with Annie Crummer, Dave Dobbyn and Sam Hunt sang lead vocals over the new arrangements.
The resulting album, Enzso, released on Epic-Australia in 1996, did extremely well in Australia and New Zealand as did the touring version of the project. Sony Music released the album in the U.S. several months later with added multi-media information.