MZANSI NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Transcript:MZANSI NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA:
MZANSI NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SPORT, ARTS & CULTURE 28 FEBRUARY 2023 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this document is to provide the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture with a comprehensive presentation regarding the establishment and status regarding the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra PRESENTATION OUTLINE The presentation will cover: historical background, historical funding of orchestras in SA, the criticism to the ring-fenced allocation to few orchestras; the rationale for the establishment of the National Orchestra, process that was followed, the aims and objectives of the national orchestra, the budget allocated to the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra (MNPO), and lastly the current audit undertaken by AGSA on matters relating to the MNPO. Progress with implementation of Programs by the MNPO Historically, South African orchestras are dominated by white musicians, and African practitioners have been largely marginalised. Even after the end of apartheid in 1994, the representation of African communities in orchestras remained limited, Funding for the orchestras was mainly directed to benefit orchestras in three major cities, the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. This limited the growth of this particular sector to certain provinces. BACKGROUND FUNDING OF ORCHESTRAS The direct funding to orchestras was documented in the 2003 Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) published by National Treasury and approved by Parliament with three orchestras, being funded through the Department, the National Arts Council, Business Arts South Africa and the National Lottery; During the time of Minister Jordan in the 2006/07 ENE, the responsibility for the funding of the three orchestras was shifted to the National Arts Council (NAC) This funding was ring-fenced, and stipulated as such in the grant allocation letter annually. (See breakdown from 2008/09 as per next slide) FUNDING OF ORCHESTRAS…continued…. Below is a sample of the allocation over the years. Even though the breakdown for some of the years could not be confirmed timeously, the trend was the same, and the average increase year-on-year was 5% CHALLENGES AND CRITICISM It must be noted that the ongoing selective funding of orchestras, in these three cities, has been criticised by the Portfolio Committee and a number of other stakeholders; There are fewer Orchestras in the townships and those that have been established are for the sole purpose of teaching music to young musicians and are largely based in metropolitan cities; The township orchestras mentioned above, rely on corporate