A New Era: The Orchestras Review 2005 Report

February 2005

This is a review called by the Commonwealth Minister for the Arts into the situation of the six concert orchestras formerly under the management of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, plus the two pit orchestras in Sydney and Melbourne serving the Australian Ballet and Opera Australia.

The Music Council did not make a submission to the Review before it was written. After it was released it seemed more useful to comment through the media than through a formal submission to government, for which government had made no structured provision. This article from the MCA's Music Forum magazine Vol. 11 No. 3 puts the arguments that appeared elsewhere also in the public media.

The position is essentially that the Terms of Reference, and in particular that term which instructed the review team to assume a continuation of subsidies at the present level -- at a time when it was known that at least half of the eight orchestras were in serious financial difficulties -- led the reviewers to ask the wrong question.

In effect, they asked something like this: How can we have the cheapest orchestras possible, rather than How can we have the best orchestras possible. This, whether or not it was the government's intention.

At the time the article was written, it seemed clear that somehow the key recommendation for reducing the size of three of the concert orchestras would not be adopted. However, since the Review took the Terms of Reference literally, it did not put a figure on retention of the status quo. And even should more funds be made available to keep the orchestras at their present sizes, larger questions remain unattended to.

What is the plan for optimal orchestral development in Australia? There is none.

Read the Review

The Music Forum article