About Orchestras Central

Orchestras Central began operating in 2016, having been set up to bring together three existing orchestras in Hamilton under one umbrella, streamlining funding and management.  With there being no template for such an entity, the organisation has evolved considerably from those early days of essentially orchestra management.  We see our purpose is to provide orchestral experiences for the community and we now have an established regional musical ecosystem based on the principles of:

• Participation – for our community musicians

• Pathways – for our young musicians

• Employment – for our professional musicians

• Experience – for our audience

 Our community orchestras are the Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra (TWSO) and the Rusty Player Orchestra.  The latter has previously been profiled on this website.  TWSO reaches an audience in the thousands over the course of the year, in particular with its iconic Sunset Symphony as part of the Hamilton Arts Festival | Te Ora ki Kirikiriroa and its tamariki/whānau concerts. 

Youth Orchestra Waikato (YOW) and more recently our YOW Academy school-holiday programmes provide pathways for young musicians in the Waikato.  Our senior YOW members also have the opportunity to gain leadership skills as tuakana/leaders for the YOW Academy.

Professional musicians provide tutoring and mentoring for TWSO, the Rusty Player Orchestra, YOW and YOW Academy and we have our flexible professional OCT Ensemble providing out-of-the-box experiences.  It most recently performed in Tim Beveridge’s “The Music is Bond” at Hamilton Arts Festival | Te Ora ki Kirikiriroa with singers Jackie Clarke, Lavina Williams and Naomi Ferguson. We also present the ensemble in more intimate surroundings, often combining spoken word/ visual art with musical experiences that vary from showcasing New Zealand music to 'Vivaldi by Candlelight' type programmes.

 We are fortunate to have a strategic partnership with the University of Waikato which provides us with office and rehearsal space.   Top music students may work with our professional ensemble or as soloists with our orchestras.  We also work in with the university’s Work Integrated Learning Programme and collaborate with the university on an annual composition workshop offering pathways and performance opportunities.

We believe that partnerships and collaborations are key to our success and enable us to amplify our reach and impact. Beyond the University of Waikato we collaborate with between 10 to 15 organisations each year on anything from a combined youth showcase concert to accessible performances and leadership workshops.

We love to showcase New Zealand composers across all our orchestras - in 2024 we performed or workshopped 22 New Zealand works, with repeat performances wherever possible. We might premiere a work in Hamilton one year and then have regional performances the following year.

We are extremely grateful to our core funder, Creative New Zealand, and to our major sponsors and funders, Trust Waikato, WEL Energy Trust and Lotto New Zealand.  For more information about us, our 2024 Annual Report is available to view here.

We think Orchestras Central is a great example of how a nurturing music ecosystem can provide opportunities for all of our community to experience the arts. AUTHOR INFORMATION: Catherine Gibson | Chief Executive I Orchestras Central Trust 

E ceo@orchestras.org.nz | www.orchestras.org.nz 

Based at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato, Hamilton 

PO Box 25026, Waikato University, Hillcrest, Hamilton 3255