KEY POINTS:
I was introduced recently to an Auckland couple who said, "I'm afraid we're APO supporters." So am I.
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra makes a vital contribution to Auckland's cultural life. If the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra were to shift to Auckland (a possibility that we keep under review), there would still be a need for the APO.
The NZSO is a national orchestra. Since we exist to take quality symphonic music to all New Zealanders, it makes sense to operate from a mid-point [Wellington].
Our full-orchestra national tours have two legs - one going North and one going south. Twice a year, the orchestra splits in half to perform in medium-sized centres in both islands. Both scenarios would be far more costly to run out of Auckland.
Auckland is important to us. We present all our subscription programmes, celebrity tours (this year with Nicolai Znaider and Yefim Bronfman) and our crossover tour in the city.
Visits, spread over several days, are mini-residencies that include education concerts, play-with-the-NZSO sessions, open rehearsals, student mentoring, school visits and master-classes.
In 2008 we give 17 concerts spread over nine visits (rather more than the number suggested by Rosanne Meo in last Saturday's Weekend Herald).
In 2009 (an Auckland Festival year) it is likely we will give more concerts in Auckland than in Wellington (an effect that is reversed in NZ International Arts Festival years).
The NZSO National Youth Orchestra performs in Auckland each year.
This costs Auckland ratepayers nothing. In fact, the contribution made to the Auckland economy by NZSO visits is well over $500,000 per year (effectively offsetting the funding that the APO receives from the Auckland City Council).
The NZSO is supported through taxes, but Aucklanders benefit directly from this to a greater extent than many New Zealanders.
And what do these taxes provide? The NZSO is the only full-size, fulltime professional symphony orchestra in the country. With an establishment of 90 first-class players, it gives great symphonic repertoire the weight and depth that it needs.
From its rave-reviewed CDs and occasional tours offshore, the NZSO is known internationally as a great orchestra - praised by the Times for "its brightly focused strings, characterful woodwind and noble brass".
It is, in other words, an orchestra that all New Zealanders should be proud of.
And it is an economic miracle. Even the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (with no touring obligations) has a budget that is twice that of the NZSO.
Rosanne Meo described the APO as "playing second fiddle" (an honourable profession, incidentally) to the NZSO.
But the APO has a distinctive role that is worth embracing.
To begin with, it partners the Royal New Zealand Ballet and NBR New Zealand Opera. It supports choral performances. Its concerts provide a diversity of programmes and artists.
Here, however, the APO often seems to be stretching itself financially and diluting artistic standards by scheduling works that demand forces significantly larger than their 68-musician establishment.
There is a myth that APO players are underpaid in comparison to their NZSO colleagues. When calculated on a per-call basis, remuneration is similar.
Our chairwoman, Diana Fenwick, and three other board members are passionate Aucklanders. The NZSO absolutely loves playing in Auckland. Our concert on Friday April 4, with music director Pietari Inkinen and cellist Natalie Clein, will be a full house.
Fortunately, music-loving Aucklanders do not share the Herald's disdain for our national orchestra.
* Peter Walls is chief executive of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
