The Australian Chamber Orchestra has done more than most organisations to crack that old chestnut: making classical music accessible to a wider audience.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
They win many friends touring nationwide, often playing music written less than 100 years ago, and featuring young players free to smile or express their character on stage.
Much of this is the approach of the group's leader, artistic director and Wollongong export Richard Tognetti, who you suspect is just as happy surfing as he is playing his violin. He's successful enough to wear Italian leather shoes but is more likely to be found barefoot.
And he doesn't mind offering an opinion about things either, in a sector where the outspoken often become tabloid fodder.
The ACO has released its program for 2016, once again showing the kind of jam-packed schedule that audiences are used to from this hard-working group.
One of its Wollongong shows will feature Italian guest violinist Lorenza Borrani, a founding member of "the world's most democratic orchestra", Spira Mirabilis - a group with no conductors, no managers, no soloists.
The ACO has a clear artistic director, who gets star billing, who makes the decisions, and whose presence and musical leadership other members clearly admire greatly.
So is it democratic? Tognetti, as is his way, turns the question back on its assumptions.
"What does democratic mean?" he asks. "We live in a democracy but we don't have much say.
"All we can do is vote them out. We don't choose who's really in Parliament.
"It's not like we have forums every Saturday like in ancient Greece. The democracy of the ACO? We have a very well-oiled management. I work very closely as the artistic director, with the general manager and the board, and the musicians, I think, are happy to relinquish their power when things are going well. As soon as things aren't going well, then you feel the democratic process.
"Everyone has the power to express an opinion, and their opinions will be listened to.
"We're always talking. It's very clear if something goes wrong. It's a small beast - it's a sports car; we feel the road much more like a big corporation like a symphony orchestra."
Creativity is different to governing - an individual's vision (or composition) is paramount and committees stifle dynamism. Ultimately, Tognetti's approach is practical.
"The smaller the group, the easier it is to circle collaborate," he said.
"Say it's a quartet - you don't go along with an autocratic point of view.
"But we're doing a Brahms symphony at the moment, and we just don't have the time for everyone to offer an opinion. So I have to make sure my decisions are well formed and well articulated. But if we're struggling with a phrase, or we're not really grasping the music, we [become] a forum. But it can waste time. So the bigger the group, the more of a benign dictator you have to be."
See aco.com.au for the 2016 program.
