ORCHESTRA FUNDS Council wants local harmony first

Press, Issue 33844, 16 May 1975, Page 10

ORCHESTRA FUNDS Council wants local harmony first

A grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council could be obtained for the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra only if the local authorities in Christchurch gave it their grants first, according to the president of the orchestra foundation (Mr N. H. Buchanan).

“The Arts Council have made this clear. It insists on local differences being cleared up before it will consider making a grant to anyone in Christchurch for an orchestra.” he said.

Mr Buchanan said that he had not been told specifically by the Arts Council that a new constitution would not be acceptable to it. ‘‘Meaningless” “They will not allow any contact with us. There will be no further negotiations with anyone until we have worked out something locally,” he said. The chairman of the Waimairi County Council (Mr D. B. Rich) described Wednesday evening’s meeting of the orchestra foundation where it adopted a new constitution as “a meaningless exercise.”

“The foundation has been told quite specifically that the proposal it had in mind to change the constitution was not acceptable, and therefore the whole exercise was a waste of time,” he said.

“The constitution change has not changed the attitude of the Arts Council or other local bodies. Mr Buchanan did suggest that this would

i change the attitude.” he : said. Mr Rich said he had spoken yesterday to the chairman of the Arts Council (Mr Hamish Keith) who said that he was well aware of the changes of the constitution, and they did not alter the attitude of the council at all.

“How many times does it have to be spelled out? They are simply playing with words — and the orchestra — to claim that these minor changes are acceptable to the council,” said Mr Rich.

There was no possibility of any money going to the foundation from the Waimairi County Council, but the money would go to a “suitably constituted body to oversee the orchestra,” Mr Rich said.

“The time is coming when orchestra members are going to take action to enforce this, because the foundation is not going to do anything. The players are affected directly.” The organisation was rapidly running out of funds and it was not going to be “funded again.”

Mr Rich said the council would support an independent trust to run the orchestra.