Devotees of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra may have noticed the distinctive and ever-present figure of former Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston mingling in the audience over the years.
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The former chief of the Defence Force has barely missed a performance during his time in Canberra, and has this week taken his devotion to a new level, having been appointed chairman of the orchestra's board.
And while he is adamant that the orchestra is one of the country's most efficient and accomplished, he will use his new role to lobby for extra funding from the Commonwealth government.
''When you look at the Commonwealth funding, at the moment it's just over $100,000 per year. That's 0.2 per cent of the money, the $48 million that goes to … the six state orchestras, and they all get somewhere between $6 million and $10 million, depending on which one you're talking about,'' he said.
The CSO, on the other hand, relied heavily on philanthropic and corporate support and a loyal public.
''One of the things that the government has been encouraging organisations like ours to do, is to develop partnerships with the corporate sector, and when you have a look at that, we're the leader, we're probably the model that they want others to become,'' he said.
''In terms of the Commonwealth government per capita funding, the CSO is on 28¢ per head, and when you look at the rest of the orchestras, we are a bargain, compared to everybody else.''
He said that with Nicholas Milton as creative director, high-quality performers, a supportive public and a dedicated administrative team, the CSO had ''been going from strength or strength'' over the past few years.
And despite the fact the progress of many arts organisations was uncertain in the lead-up to the federal election, he was relatively relaxed about the orchestra's fate at the hands of a potential new arts minister. ''I just think that there's an inequity there that has to be redressed, and I will pursue that as part of my function but, at the end of the day, when you compare us to the other orchestras, they have a much heavier reliance on federal funding than we do,'' Mr Houston said.
He said that despite an incredibly busy professional life, he had always been one to ''sit back and enjoy'' music. ''I love it, it's very relaxing and it's great to be able to listen to an orchestra that always produces a wonderful concert - it doesn't matter what they're playing, they do a great job,'' he said.
''It all comes together very nicely, and I'm in awe of the skill and the talent that makes up the Canberra orchestra. As you know, many of them were trained and educated here in Canberra, and we're very fortunate to have so many talented musicians in this part of the world.''
