The Southern Sinfonia is an essential part of Dunedin's cultural heritage, has a special relationship with the community and must stay, the Dunedin City Council says.
But local government should not have to pay more for that to happen, the council said in its submission on the Ministry of Culture and Heritage's orchestral sector review.
Councillors signed off the submission on Monday, strengthening the wording of its support for the orchestra. Its submission had already been presented to meet the ministry's feedback deadline.
The submission noted the council's "serious concern" at the "complete mismatch" between the implication in the ministry's "New Zealand Professional Orchestra Sector Review" discussion document that local government should pick up a greater share of regional orchestra funding, and the minister of local government, the prime minister and the finance minister's suggestions that rates rises were unacceptable and local government should stick to core services.
"Proposals such as these lend credence to users in local government that 'core services' is becoming shorthand for things central government no longer wishes to fund," the submission said.
The council believed access to and participation in orchestras must not become a population-based issue.
The council supported the findings of Israeli consultant Avi Shoshani, who visited New Zealand as a guest of the ministry to review the orchestral sector. He said the five professional New Zealand orchestras were a vital part of their communities.
The council also said the sinfonia had a vital role in providing orchestra services for other art forms in the city, such as choirs, opera and ballet, which all added to the city's vibrancy. It also had close ties to the University of Otago and other music education providers in Dunedin.
Its academy, workshops for intermediate players, master classes and workshops and concerts to schools offered opportunities otherwise not available in Otago.
Nationally, audience numbers were decreasing, but the sinfonia's subscriptions had been increasing for 20 years and it regularly attracted 1% of Dunedin's population to its main concerts, which was better than other centres.
The council supported greater collaboration across the orchestra sector, and most liked a scenario where the NZSO became a non-government organisation, but with an agreed "union" as a moderating agency for the orchestras.
"We support greater collaboration across the orchestral sector and feel that should be the focus of the review."
There also needed to be a clear policy that prevented the orchestras competing with one another on various jobs, recordings, accompanying festivals etc.
Further discussions were needed on what constituted a fair and reasonable funding split for the orchestral sector, but that discussion was impossible in the timeframe allowed by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.
There was not time for proper consultation with Dunedin's arts community, the submission said.
