Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra - the Auckland Philharmonia

further CORE funding the APO’s ability to respond to demand for this grass‐roots level ofengagement with the community is severely compromised.The depth of community support and connection can also be demonstrated by APO's new SistemaAotearoa programme that could only have been successfully implemented in Otara due to the factthat APO's Remix the Orchestra programme, Connecting With Music initiative and APOPS PartnershipSchool programme had already built relationships in this community. The Auckland Philharmonia isin Auckland all year, has multiple opportunities to offer contact for students and adult audiences,and has a tight feedback chain to hear what its public think of it.In the Fall 2011 edition of Symphony, the magazine of the League of American Orchestras, Leaguepresident Jesse Rosen writes of an increasing need to serve a wide cross‐section of communities. Heargues that sustaining and growing this community need has never been more important. Thepresident of the Milwaukie Symphony says “Getting Community Engagement right will involveorchestras re‐thinking themselves from top to bottom as cultural service agencies rather than highendentertainment companies.” 3Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra has understood this for years, and with the launch of APOConnecting in 2011, formalised this dimension of its offer as being core business.However, the issue here is that there is demand for more of this outreach than APO can meet withcurrent hand‐to‐mouth resources of these programmes, which run very lean.To expand the programme to meet current and projected demand would require increased corefunding on which the organisation can depend and with which it can plan with confidence.7 Player­related issuesAuckland audiences expect, demand and deserve high standards from their resident orchestra. It isdifficult for APO to attract and retain players to meet this increasing demand for technical expertiseand mastery for several reasons, specifically:7.1 Earning levels and core fundingAPO is limited to paying players below the going rate for professional orchestras. Common practicefor paying wages of orchestra members is to use core funding for this core operating expense. TheAPO derives its core funding from two sources: Auckland Council (25%) and central government (viaCreative New Zealand) (24%). This totals 49% of APO's revenue. This is in stark contrast to other cityorchestras and to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which enjoy a bedrock of funding supportand can remunerate (and programme) accordingly.The issue here is that APO receives relatively less core funding from central government than othercity symphony orchestras and therefore finds it harder to attract and retain top players.3 Symphony, Fall 2011, P17Contextualising Auckland and the NZ orchestral sector Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Page 13