NZSO a rare success

In view of what's going on in the States, the NZSO, which recorded a half-million-dollar surplus at the end of the financial year in June, is bucking a trend.

Aside from the Florida Philharmonic's woes, the venerable Toronto and St Louis symphony orchestras are under threat, each with $US7 million deficits. Canada's second-best orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic, ended a month-long hiatus only when its musicians took a hefty pay cut. San Jose's orchestra has gone under, and even the hugely distinguished Chicago Symphony is facing a $2 million debt. A Dallas newspaper also reports that classical CD sales are drastically down across the country.

But not only is the NZSO in good shape, says Fraser, "We've got a contract with [record label] Naxos which is probably the only label that is going from strength to strength." However, there's no room for complacency. "We're doing well at the moment but you never move away from the recognition that an orchestra is a marginal enterprise."