Sponsorship boost for Chch orchestra

Press, 29 July 1987, Page 9

Sponsorship boost for Chch orchestra

Sponsorship will bring the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra $41,000 this year. The sponsorship would help keep the orchestra afloat in the wake of only a 1.865 per cent increase in its grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council this year, said its general manager, Mr Earle Rowell, yesterday. All of the C.S.O.’s concerts for the year had commercial sponsorship, he said.

On average, the orchestra spent $28,000 on a symphonic concert, only about $12,000 of which the orchestra re-

coup through ticket sales.

Mr Rowell said the orchestra was committed to continuing its symphonic concerts, as well as staging the popular music concerts such as the Rodgers and Kammerstein programme William Southgate will conduct in the Town Hall tomorrow evening.

A light music programme will be performed in November and three more such concerts are planned for next year. The orchestra has a programme of six symphonic concerts a year. Mr Rowell said the plan was to use profitable light

music concerts to subsidise the symphonic concerts.

The C.S.O. performed about once every two weeks. The big problem was attracting musicians and retaining them when the orchestra could not pay them full-time. The orchestra wanted to appoint a permanent leader, but funds did not permit, Mr Rowell said. The orchestra had gone out seeking sponsorship because it had heard support from the Arts Council might not be increased. It was very disappointed at the tiny inqgease it got