A Statement from the NZ Choral Federation
For the New Zealand Choral Federation and our members - thousands of singers across New Zealand - RNZ Concert is not a
streaming service. For the 10,000 secondary students who take part in The Big Sing each year, for the young composers,
conductors, teachers and singers building careers and ensuring NZ arts are represented internationally – for all these
people RNZ Concert is not a playlist. It's a platform, a forum, a community. It’s a context in which our unique culture
is recorded, archived, discussed, debated, celebrated, critiqued. There is no other forum delivering all this. There is
currently nowhere else where this rich exchange of ideas and identity flourishes.
RNZ Concert listeners of all ages have spoken out passionately in support of this taonga. NZCF speaks as well from the
perspective of arts organisations and practitioners, to affirm that RNZ Concert is an absolutely essential part of the
ecosystem that is NZ’s cultural life. We believe the entire arts landscape in NZ would be profoundly affected by the
loss of this service and that the management of Radio New Zealand profoundly misunderstand their own product and its
vital role in the cultural life of Aotearoa.
This government has championed, and the arts world has embraced, a shift towards more diverse and accessible arts, that
reach into the far corners of our communities. RNZ’s charter reflects this mission to support New Zealand’s voice, and
to nurture and protect that which makes us New Zealanders. If ANY radio station fulfils this obligation, it is RNZ
Concert.
NZCF like dozens of other arts organisations receives Creative NZ funding based on deliverables in terms of reach,
diversity, and the building of dynamic and resilient arts. RNZ Concert plays a key role in helping all of us build and
connect with audiences, within NZ and beyond, with recorded concerts, in-depth interviews, background programming, arts
news updates and constant and relevant connections with contemporary New Zealand.
This government, in its 2017 manifesto, promised to:
“Ensure that the development of RNZ … does not result in any reduction in the funding or quality of content and delivery
of any of their current specialist services including, but not limited to, Radio NZ Concert.”
Clearly cutting presenters reduces quality of content; moving to AM reduces quality of delivery. Most egregiously the
removing of presenters, and specialist talk-programmes that showcase, explain and contextualise NZ music and its
practitioners removes the ability to ensure relevance to NZ audiences.
The young people who flock to The Big Sing do so knowing they are part of a bigger picture – their contribution is
recorded, it’s talked about, it’s broadcast: in short it is valued. NZCF’s diverse audiences and engagement with youth
through music that ranges from classical to jazz to pop to religious to contemporary NZ compositions, and our education
and outreach programmes – all these are testament to the fact that classical music is far from an elitist and ageist
pursuit. We know the same is also true of orchestras and other music organisations who have spoken out in defence of RNZ
Concert this week.
The arts and public broadcasting are inextricably entwined. The broadcasting professionals who stand to lose their jobs
are arts professionals. Management of RNZ have an obligation to effect public broadcasting values of diversity and
access and to recognise public broadcasting’s role in the wider cultural landscape: we urge a halt to this plan and a
commitment to fully resourcing RNZ Concert so that it can continue to fulfil RNZ’s charter responsibility of 'reflecting
New Zealand's cultural identity'.
Monday 10th February 2020NZ Choral Federation Governance Board
Juliet Dreaver, Chair
Michael Littlewood, Vice Chair
Toby Gee
Warwick Harvey
Shona McIntyre-Bull
Robert Wiremu
David Squire
Rosemary TurnbullNZCF Chief Executive
Christine Argyle