The decision to discontinue the prestigious national award was made by the six CEOs of Australia’s major State orchestras.

Symphony Australia CEO Kate Lidbetter has defended the organisation’s decision to discontinue the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards, saying, “It’s a very expensive thing to do and there are other opportunities out there for young musicians.” The highly contentious move, which has sparked a national outcry from Australian music lovers, was decided upon by the six managing directors of Australia’s major state orchestras, Rory Jeffes (SSO), André Gremillet (MSO), Sophie Galaise (QSO), Vincent Ciccarello (ASO) Craig Whitehead (WASO) and Nicholas Heyward (TSO), who make up the board of Symphony Australia, Lidbetter revealed.

While the loss of the YPAs has not been directly influenced by the Federal arts funding cuts that have affected many arts organisations across Australia, the move to discontinue the competition is in response to a diminished level of investment from Symphony Australia’s six member orchestras. This has led to the cancellation of all Symphony Australia’s artist development programmes, including the YPAs. Lidbetter confirmed that the six board members of Symphony Australia were aware that the discontinuation of the YPAs would be a...