HOW TO MAKE A SUBMISSION: You can do any or all of the following

HOW TO MAKE A SUBMISSION: You can do any or all of the following:
1. Email: orchestrareview@mch.govt.nz
You may wish to use the following email/letter copy, and/or add
your own thoughts:
Dear Minister,
I ask you to acknowledge and secure the status of the APO as a world class city
orchestra that complements the role of the NZSO as the national orchestra. I do not
believe the New Zealand Professional Orchestra Sector Review discussion document
adequately addresses this. Neither does it create a platform for a vibrant orchestral
sector in the future.
I would like you to deliver a new structural and funding model that recognises this so
that New Zealand can continue to support and grow both of its world class orchestras,
and develop a third in the South Island in the future within the current funding.
None of the options in the discussion document ensures this. The APO needs its own
dedicated board and empowered management if it is to retain a unique artistic voice
and strengthen its links with the city. Demand for the APO’s services is increasing.
From schools to concert halls, open days and community events, the APO brings world
class performances to Auckland on a weekly basis, as well as the whole nation and
beyond with its weekly live broadcasts on Radio New Zealand Concert. What needs to
be addressed is the inequitable central government funding that is holding back the
ability of the APO to reach more Aucklanders.
The current structure no longer reflects reality. It’s time for real change.
Sincerely,
2. Formally respond via the submission process
To make a submission please use the feedback form at the back of the review
document. Submissions close August 20, 2012. http://www.mch.govt.nz/orchestrareview
3. Contact your Member of Parliament
Write or email your local MP to express your views and support of the APO’s position
and why.
4. Ask others to write in
Use your various communications channels to express your view, be it through the
media, blogs, your website, social networks and so on.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

HEADLINE ISSUES: APO’s views which you may wish to include:
ISSUE ONE: The proposed scenarios do not allow the sector to develop
• The one-plus-four (one international-standard orchestra plus regionals) model does not
reflect current reality.
• New Zealand already has two world class orchestras, APO and NZSO, and the
government needs to continue to support both, while increasing support for the APO.
• The proposed scenarios would constrain the role and potential growth of city and regionbased
orchestras.
• The Discussion Paper’s gloomy analysis of the challenges facing the sector is not
reflected by the APO’s experience (Please refer to attached APO fact sheet)
• Constraining repertoire that the APO is “allowed” to play (as is suggested in the
Discussion Paper) is the fastest way to constrain our growth and standards. APO’s artistic
growth has been the result of a clear vision including offering audiences the full range of
symphonic experience.
ISSUE TWO: Economic efficiencies and cost of orchestras
• There is no analysis of current spending across the sector within the document.
• There is no analysis of efficiencies, if any, likely to be achieved by any of the potential
restructuring scenarios.
• The Discussion Paper suggests that an international standard orchestra requires $13.4m
of government funding (what the NZSO currently receives annually) and therefore two are
unaffordable. APO’s success (with $2.1m core central funding) demonstrates that
international standards can be achieved and further developed for less money.
• A different business model, which allows government funding to be distributed in a more
economically beneficial way, should be considered.
ISSUE THREE: What about the nuts and bolts
• What is needed is a practical yet ambitious assessment that includes a thorough
economic analysis.
• Some areas of NZ receive little or no access to orchestral music and education
programmes. The review should consider how these issues may be addressed.
• With some good economic modeling and analysis, and sensible and strategic use and
development of existing capabilities, good solutions could be developed.
• There are other sectors such as Health, Universities etc which have successfully
addressed devolution issues.
ISSUE FOUR: The options posed ignore the demographic changes in New Zealand
The document itself talks of the northward population expansion and drift, but the options do
not follow through.
• The proposed models do not recognise recent changes and future projections.
o New Zealand has changed drastically since 1946 when the national orchestra
model was introduced. At that time, the population of New Zealand was 1.78m,
and Aucklanders comprised 12.5% of that.
o In 2012 Aucklanders are 34% of the population – 1.5m people.
o By 2050 Auckland will have 50% of the population and a different ethnic mix from
the rest of the country. The role of Auckland’s orchestra needs to reflect that.
ISSUE FIVE: The role of orchestras has changed: so must the funding structure
• The impact and reach of orchestras cannot be solely measured by attendance on the
concert hall stage.
• Modern orchestras have broad and deep engagement with their communities as
evidenced by the APO’s many Education and outreach programmes. These matter.
• Modern orchestras collaborate across the arts sector to produce new and exciting
programmes and achieve efficiencies
• It is internationally recognised that orchestras have a role in the broader arts and
education sectors, including social development of young people, but there needs to be
constant contact to effectively achieve this. It needs appropriate funding.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Fact sheet
About the APO:
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra:
• was established in 1980
• is one of two full-time professional symphony orchestras in New Zealand
• contracts 70 full-time musicians, engaging extra players as required
• employs 22 FTE admin and management staff
• is a full-sized orchestra, though at the smaller end
• is Auckland’s largest performing arts organisation
• plays to well over 100,000 people each year
• presents more than 45 of its own concerts in Auckland every year and performs many
more with and for other organisations
• is committed to excellence, engaging world-class conductors and soloists. Top
classical artists the orchestra has recently engaged include James Ehnes, Midori,
Michael Collins and Nikolai Demidenko .
• has Australasia’s most comprehensive education, community and outreach
programme, APO Connecting, which reaches more than 23,000 young people each
year, with APO musicians making more than 200 school visits annually
• broadcasts more live concerts nationally and internationally on radio and internet than
any other New Zealand orchestra
• plays regularly for the NBR New Zealand Opera, Royal New Zealand Ballet and the
Michael Hill International Violin Competition
• plays a strong support role for other Auckland orchestras. APO players are involved
with the other orchestras as teachers, players, mentors and conductors
• received $2.2m in funding from central government and $2.25 from Auckland
ratepayers through the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Board in 2011
The APO initiates new and ongoing cross-cultural and multi-artform projects. These have
included 2011’s Sacre: The Auckland Dance Project, which involved nearly 200 students in
a professionally choreographed performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring; and 2012’s
Remix the Orchestra, where classical met hip-hop. Programmes such as these and others,
have been life-changing for the participants, many of whom have changed their life
aspirations as a result.
In 2011 the APO partnered with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to establish Sistema
Aotearoa, the country’s first Sistema-based social development and music education
programme.
In addition to their APO work, APO musicians do approximately 300 hours per week of
instrumental teaching, from primary to tertiary level, thus playing a key role in developing the
next generation of musicians.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

APO achievements and growth over the past five years
The number of concerts the APO presents has consistently increased annually since 2006,
with a big increases since the introduction of the Auckland Regional Amenities Funding Act.
Concerts and school visits have increased, to the limits of the available funding. The total
Education audience has increased from 15,193 in 2008 to more than 23,000 in 2011. There
is more demand than we can satisfy.
The five orchestras under review show an overall 46% revenue increase between 2000 and
2010. The APO overall increase in same period was 69% – APO has grown much more
than other orchestras in the period.
As for other orchestras, the APO percentage of government funding is increasing – due in
APO’s case to support from Auckland Council to develop a strong city-based orchestra. The
APO’s percentage of central government funding is still less than the average for the five
orchestras, and much less than comparable international orchestras.
The review document says that orchestra audiences are declining. That is not true for the
APO. Subscriptions revenue increased from $551,757 in 2007 to $844,306 in 2011.
While there was a peak in public ticket sales in 2007 at the height of the economic boom,
public sales to the APO have been stable in a time of economic restraint: 2008 – $635,664;
2009 – $723,055; 2010 – $583,955; 2011 – $693,019.
From 2007-2011 the APO performed 202 paid concerts, including low-cost concerts in small
venues. The annual average paid attendance was 21,065 people, or 1037 paid attendees
per concert.
Background to the current Orchestral Review:
In 2011 the Ministry for Culture and Heritage announced a review of New Zealand’s
professional orchestra sector. The government’s aim was to assess whether the existing
structure of “one national and four regionally based orchestras” represents the best delivery
of orchestral services to New Zealanders.
The Current Funding Model:
- was established in 1946, based on the following parameters: one full-time professional
orchestra (now the NZSO) and several small amateur orchestras. There are now two fulltime
professional orchestras: NZSO and APO.
- The NZSO is funded directly by an act of parliament. Central government funding to the
other orchestras comes indirectly through Creative New Zealand (CNZ), which receives
most of its grant funding monies from Lotteries. That funding is reviewed for each
organisation on a regular basis.
- The government’s entire allocation for the orchestral sector (direct government funding
plus CNZ funding) is approximately $17 million. NZSO’s portion is $13.4m; APO’s is approx
$2.1m. This uneven allocation reflects the 1946 situation, not current demographic and
artistic realities. In 1946 NZ’s population was 1.78m, with 250,000 living in Auckland –
12.5% of the national population. In 2012, 1.5 million people live in Auckland, 34% of all
New Zealanders.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

The APO’s Position on the Orchestral Review:
• The APO has grown artistically and in actual size and is now one of two internationalclass,
full-time professional orchestras in New Zealand and funding should reflect this
• $2 million for the APO out of an allocated $17 million in government funding is not
appropriate for a metropolis of Auckland’s size and an orchestra that serves its
citizens/community to the degree the APO does
• The APO does not anticipate an increase in funding for the sector as a whole. We
accept that overall funding within the orchestral sector cannot currently be increased.
However, the APO believes that the government’s contribution could be more equitably
distributed, with a different model acknowledging the need for a national touring
orchestra, recognising the APO’s status as a world-class professional orchestra based
in Auckland, and the potential to develop a third outstanding orchestra based in the
South Island,
• The APO has a proud record of engaging the community through APO Connecting.
Current funding levels constrain our ability to meet demand.
• The APO has reached the limit of what can be achieved with the funding it has, and
there is a demand for our services that we are currently unable to meet.
• Extra funding the APO received would be applied in many areas. We would increase
the range of APO Connecting (education, community and outreach) programmes we
offer, extending the orchestra’s reach, particularly to the west and north of Auckland; it
would provide long-term stability for the orchestra and enable it to continue to grow and
develop. It would provide stability for our players, which in turn enables the orchestra to
attract and retain high quality musicians, benefitting the orchestra, audiences and
community alike. And it would enable the orchestra to consistently engage the world’s
leading artists (soloists and conductors).
• Recent research shows that regional cultural institutions such as the APO are among
Aucklanders’ top 5 factors contributing to the vision of Auckland as the world’s most
liveable city. (source: Colmar Brunton, ‘Aucklanders and the arts: Attitudes, attendance,
and participation in 2011’, 23 May 2012).
• In the Long Term Plan, Auckland Council states that “the council’s vision is for Auckland
to be the world’s most liveable city…. a culturally rich and creative Auckland.” Council
also states that “Arts, and the opportunity to create, participate, and experience it, play
an important role in Auckland.” To this end, Council provides funding to support a range
of regional arts organisations including the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. However,
Aucklanders should also benefit from Government support for the orchestral sector and
the present imbalance, where most government support is directed towards one
national orchestra, is no longer fair, nor does it meet the needs of an orchestra serving
a modern urban metropolis like Auckland.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra