Innocents Abroad

1) Orchestral workload. The NSZO is a full-time salaried orchestra, so I suppose this means it has a 52 week season, although it is not expressed in those terms. Calls for rehearsals and concerts last 2.5 hours and those for recordings 3 hours. We generally work for 25 hours a week (5 days x 5 hours/day), although we can work a maximum of 35 hours, usually when we are recording. Days off have to be distributed evenly amongst the calls according to a complicated formula which I won’t go into. We tour frequently within NZ (to a maximum of 85 days), and travel time counts as time worked. The management can use a maximum of 46 3 hour calls a year for commercial recordings and players receive no extra payment for these. Annual leave is 6 weeks.

2) Job security. After the audition and trial procedure (trial period is 6 months), players have tenure. There is a section in our Players’ Agreement concerning “Loss of Proficiency”, but only rarely do players lose their jobs for this reason, and management have to jump through a LOT of hoops to do it. As to the security of the Orchestra itself, I think it is probably as secure as anything is in this world. Our budget is funded to about 80% by the NZ Government and the current is one extremely supportive of the Orchestra, I’m happy to say. Of course over our 60 year history there have occasionally been less benign regimes, but even then I don’t think there has ever been any serious threat to the Orchestra’s survival.

3) Non-nationals. Currently about 40% of NZSO players are non-New Zealand born. Most of these seem to be Americans: we benefit greatly from the excellent American system of musical training! Of course the job and the country don’t suit everyone, but we generally find that foreign-born players stay, settle down and eventually become Kiwis.