Are there enough community orchestras in New Zealand ?

Community Orchestras NZ has some statistics on community (=amateur) orchestra s in New Zealand. For instance, there are close to 100 actual orchestras (including wind orchestras and chamber groups) in all but two regions (West Coast and Tasman) of New Zealand. 

There are two theoretical and significant reasons for having amateur music-playing groups. 

1. One is for the fulfilment of players who have spent a considerable part of their lives learning to play an orchestra instrument, but are not playing, and may never play, in a professional group.

   
   

2. The other is to proactively contribute to the cultural dimensions of society, having an impact on, and sending a beneficial cultural message to, the local communities in which each ensemble has its existence.

So the question becomes:

• Do we have enough community orchestras in New Zealand to meet the need of players who would like to be a part of orchestral music-making?  And,

  
  

• Do we have enough orchestras to be making an impact on the cultural interests of New Zealanders, particularly in the local communities where we are situated?

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In a table below, the regions of New Zealand are listed, along with their respective populations, according to the 2023 Statistics Department’s publications.  In each region the number of community orchestras, as we have been able to determine them has been added.  Then in the final column there is the ratio of orchestras to population, standardized on the basis of one orchestra to how many people?  Note that the larger the resulting population proportion, the less likely that there are enough orchestras.  Those in the green rows have a “better” ratio while those in the grey rows have a “poorer” ratio, when compared with the total ratio for the country.

This, of course, is a very simplistic measure and makes a lot of assumptions.  The ideal evidence would be to somehow determine directly whether we are offering enough opportunity for musicians in the community who play, once played, or would like to play an orchestral instrument in an orchestra.  At this point in time, it is purely a subjective opinion as to whether 1 orchestra per 58,000 population is enough.

To help in thinking about this, we can compare the data above with similar data from another similar-sized country, such as Flanders, Belgium, a country with just twice the population (at 11.4m) of New Zealand.

VLAMO is a Flemish amateur music making organisation.  It has reported:

. “We work for 1200 amateur orchestras (or 65000 musicians) around Flanders.” 

This is thought-provoking because it shows a much better ratio of community orchestras to population (1200 to 11.4m) than in New Zealand (100 to 5.3m). For New Zealand to have a similar ratio we would have to have about 6 times the number of community orchestras than we currently have.

Overseas country comparison

The number of musicians catered for in Belgium shows an average of 54 players per group.  We do not have data on how many musicians are covered in New Zealand orchestras, but it is expected that the average number of individuals in New Zealand orchestras would be similar and therefore the total number catered for should be around 5,400. This is a much smaller proportion than the Flemish number of 65000.

This could be taken to indicate that there is much less opportunity for people to join orchestras in New Zealand or that there is a much lower cultural interest in New Zealand for orchestral music in the community.

If anyone has better statistics for New Zealand I would be interested to see them and be able to draw a different conclusion.  

Post script

An AI generated response to the same question concluded:

“New Zealand has a solid foundation of community orchestras, especially in urban centers, but gaps remain in smaller towns and rural areas. Funding, recruitment, and geography pose ongoing challenges. Expanding support, creating more local ensembles, and embracing new technologies could help ensure that all local musicians have access to meaningful orchestral experiences. For musicians and music lovers alike, strengthening community orchestras means enriching New Zealand’s cultural life and nurturing the next generation of talent.”