ORCHESTRA GRANT

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31729, 12 July 1968, Page 12

ORCHESTRA GRANT

Cut Dismays Members

A cut of $13,000 in the grant by the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council to the Christchurch Civic Orchestra—it will receive $15,000 this year —has dismayed members of the orchestra’s foundation. Mr G. A. G. Connal, the president, said that the foundation’s very existence was threatened. It would now be impossible to build up the corps of professional players planned by the foundation. The executive of the foundation plans an early meeting to consider the future. When he announced the grants in Wellington, the new chairman of the council (Mr R. S. V. Simpson) said that although civic authorities and local bodies had become patrons of the arts, it was apparent that there must be a much higher level of public patronage in the future. He advocated that' donations of up to $lOOO in support of arts be made tax deductible. A number of industrial and commercial concerns would be prepared to give if they received tax remission, he said.

Only when funds were assured on a three-year or fouryear basis could the arts plan properly and not be subjected to a “stop-go” stricture, Mr Simpson said. Major subsidy payments for this year include: the New Zealand Opera Company, $40,500; the New Zealand Ballet Company, $72,500: the Auckland Symphonia, $15,000; the National School of Ballet, $10,000; the Auckland Theatre Trust, $18,000; Downstage Theatre Society, $16,000.