FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020 G.69 MŌ TE TAU I TE OTI I TE 31 O HAKIHEA 2020 Annual Report 2020 Pūrongo ā-Tau 2020 NEW ZEALAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TE TIRA PŪORO O AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Contents Ngā Ihirangi The NZSO: Our Vision, Mission and Values 2 Te Tira Pūoro o Aotearoa: Matawhānui/Whakatakanga/Matawhānui/Whai Painga 2020 Overview 4 2020 He Tirohanga Whānui Organisational Structure 18 Te Hanga o te Whakahaere Governance Statement 20 He Tauākī Kāwanatanga Statement of Responsibility 22 He Tauākī o ngā Haepapa Statement of Service Performance 24 He Tauākī o ngā mahi Financial Statements 30 He Tauākī Pūtea Independent Auditor’s Report 48 Pūrongo a te Kaiarotake Motuhake Organisational Health and Capability 52 Te Ora me te Āheinga o te Whakahaere A Thank You to our Supporters and Partners 56 He Mihi ki a Koe nā Ngā Kaitautoko me ngā Hoa Kaipakihi The Board is pleased to present the Annual Report for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for the year ended 31 December 2020 E harikoa ana te Poari ki te whakatakoto i te Pūrongo ā-Tau o Te Tira Puoro o Aotearoa mō te tau i oti i te 31 o Hakihea, 2020 Laurence Kubiak MAICD, GAICD Geoff Dangerfield QSO Schools concert, Wellington Chair/Heamana Deputy Chair/Heamana Tuarua Cover Cheryl Hollinger, 22 April 2021 Chair/Heamana Audit Committee/Komiti Arotake Associate Principal Trumpet Emeritus 22 April 2021 1 1 Our Vision Our Values The NZSO’s Vision, Tā Mātou Matakite Ō Mātou Uara Mission and Values To be Aotearoa New Zealand’s Fresh: We play old music like most loved entertainment brand. it was written yesterday and inhabit new music in a way that Te Matakite, te Whakatakanga, Our Mission is familiar. Tā Mātou Whakatakanga me ngā Uara o NZSO To delight, surprise and Fearless: We are not excite all New Zealanders constrained by convention or through memorable musical location. experiences. In Front: We are world-class in everything we do. He Herenga Whenua: Inspired by, and connected to, this awe-inspiring country, we take excellence and turn it into a shared experience for all New Zealanders. Objectives and Functions of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Objectives of the Orchestra Functions of the Orchestra Ngā Whāinga o te Tira Puoro Ngā Kawenga a te Tira Puoro The objectives of the Orchestra are outlined The functions of the Orchestra are outlined in Section 8 of the New Zealand Symphony in Section 9 of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004, as follows: Orchestra Act 2004, as follows: • To provide the public of New Zealand with live • To ensure that the Orchestra presents a broad and recorded performances of symphonic repertoire of orchestral performance including music performed to an international standard. New Zealand works and recent works. • To provide an orchestra that— • To encourage the development of New Zealand (i) is highly skilled and artistically imaginative; musicians. and • To encourage the development of New (ii) has strong community support. Zealanders’ knowledge and appreciation of orchestral music. • To be a leading New Zealand performing arts • To develop and expand the audience of the organisation with a role in the development of a orchestra on a national basis. distinctively New Zealand cultural environment. • To provide a touring orchestra (which may also • To promote and encourage New Zealand include international performances). musical composition and composers. • To carry out any other functions consistent • To provide performance opportunities for New with its principal objectives, as agreed to by the Zealand musicians, whether as members of the Minister after consultation with the Orchestra. Orchestra or as soloists. • To cooperate with other similar institutions Robert Orr, and organisations having objectives similar to Section Principal Oboe those of the Orchestra. 2 3 Tēnā koutou katoa For the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, 2020 Overview 2020 was arguably the most testing of our 75 years. He Mihi The COVID-19 pandemic – which included 2020 He Tirohanga Whānui E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā rau nine weeks from 25 March to 8 June where rangatira mā o te motu whānui nei o public performances were not permitted, along with oscillating alert levels until early Aotearoa, tēnā ra koutou katoa. Tēnei October – demanded a radical reshaping of te aumihi ki nga mate huhua o te motu the Orchestra’s planned 2020 programme. The kua riro atu ki te pō haere, haere, haere. Orchestra operated throughout the year with a two-month rolling timeline and was constantly Tino rerekē te ahuatanga o te tau kua updating touring schedules, venue bookings, pahure ake nei, tērā nanakia o te mate music licensing, international guest timetables, urutā, he kapua pōuriuri ki runga i te orchestral repertoire and musician availability, as well as curating, rehearsing and performing motu, rātou ki a rātou, tātou ki a tātou urgently changed repertoires. ki te ao awatea. Huri mai ki a tātou o Despite this, the Board, musicians and tēnei ao me te whaiwhaia ngā wawata support team demonstrated admirable agility, resilience, innovation, teamwork and mō te hunga mō āpōpō tēnā ra koutou commitment to excellence. As a result, katoa.Ko te pūrongo-ā-tau o te Tira despite the obstacles, we were able to fulfil the Pūoro o Aotearoa e horapa ana ki ngā Orchestra’s mission – to delight, surprise and excite all New Zealanders through memorable iwi katoa, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, musical experiences. tēnā koutou katoa. In the words of a well-known whakataukī: — Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi. With red and black the work will be complete. Alert levels and border restrictions meant that the NZSO was unable to tour for much of the year and was only able to bring a few international artists, conductors and overseas-based employees into the country. Nevertheless, the Orchestra remained acutely conscious of its obligations under the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Act 2004 to offer audiences live and recorded performances of symphonic music performed to an international standard, along with encouraging the development of New Zealanders’ knowledge and appreciation of orchestral music, promoting and encouraging local musical composition and composers and offering performance opportunities for our musicians. What’s more, it focused on delivering Minister Carmel Sepuloni’s clear expectation “to see the NZSO continue to explore new and innovative ways of connecting with the people of New Zealand and supporting the cultural sector” (Post Budget Letter of Expectations 2020/21, 1 June 2020). Consequently, the NZSO moved with speed and professionalism to digitally stream regular concerts and performances – as well as education Megan Molina, initiatives – from the beginning of the nationwide Second Violin lockdown in March and throughout the year. 4 5 By providing solace, inspiration and connection Housing the other anchor tenants, Te Kōkī/ to a great many New Zealanders at a time New Zealand School of Music and Orchestra of isolation and uncertainty, we were able to Wellington, the NMC will provide the NZSO with contribute to national, community and personal its first-ever permanent home, enabling the wellbeing and demonstrate our special place in the entire NZSO team to be located in one place cultural life of Aotearoa New Zealand. and, through state-of-the-art recording facilities, Due to reduced touring costs and other enable the NZSO to realise significant commercial savings as a result of the one-off and specific opportunities. The NMC will be an institution of circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance both for Wellington and nationally, NZSO achieved a surplus of $1.522 million in 2020. strengthening the city’s and Aotearoa New This surplus will be of vital importance in funding Zealand’s international reputation for music and the Orchestra’s activity in 2021. the wider performing arts. During the year, the NZSO and the Ministry for In conclusion, our sincere thanks go to the Culture and Heritage began developing options Board, musicians and support team at the NZSO for a more financially stable NZSO including who steered the ship through unprecedented consideration of the NZSO’s strategy and turbulence in 2020, thereby enabling all New operating model. This work will continue in 2021 Zealanders to access musical excellence – thus with the objective of finalising a proposed way reinforcing that the NZSO is truly “he piki kōtuku forward by the end of the calendar year. ki ō tātou mātunga, he mapihi maurea ō tātoa During 2020, the NZSO Board resolved to taringa – a heron plume for our heads, and support and implement the ongoing management treasure for our ears.” of the NZSO’s environmental footprint to support We also express our deep gratitude to the the Government’s Letters of Expectations and Crown who is our key funder through the Ministry the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) for Culture and Heritage and, along with our Amendment Act 2019. As a result, the NZSO donors, subscribers and sponsors, generously formed the Environmental Action Group (EAG) enables us to be world-class music makers who with representation and participation across the share the greatest music ever made and to be organisation. crucial agents of change in communities, working The objective of the EAG is to reduce and to shape a better Aotearoa New Zealand. manage the NZSO’s carbon emissions and foster Ko te tūmanako e whakamārama ana koutou an ongoing culture of environmental responsibility ngā mahi o tēnei hui-a-tau o te Tira Pūoro o in our sector. To achieve this, the NZSO has Aotearoa. Nō reira kei ngā rau rangatira huri rauna partnered with Toitū to measure, manage and i te motu, tēnā ra koutou katoa. offset the NZSO’s greenhouse gas emissions.