To a thrilling and highly relevant 2024 CSO season. 2023 was a year that saw the performing arts emerge from the impacts of some particularly challenging circumstances. We anticipate that 2024 will continue in that vein of renewal, providing engaging and meaningful musical experiences for you, our whānau. It will also see us marking a very special 10-year anniversary, that of Benjamin Northey’s invaluable contribution as CSO Chief Conductor.

One of the many pleasures of being the orchestra that serves Ōtautahi Christchurch and the greater Waitaha Canterbury region is that we enjoy a direct relationship with you. What you tell us at, after, and between concerts helps to directly shape our approach to programming and performance. Whether on the concert platform in our home as resident orchestra of the Christchurch Town Hall, in our various other guises in collaboration with our partners in ballet, opera, and musical theatre, or across Waitaha through our comprehensive Ki te Hapori In the Community programme, we love connecting with our ever-growing and diverse audience.

Once again, our performance programme spans 300+ years of musical creativity, with Aotearoa New Zealand-generated music playing a critical and prominent role. The fact that almost one third of our performance output originates from within these shores demonstrates the richness we are so fortunate to explore and share, in addition to the wealth of international repertoire we also enjoy.

We are thrilled that you are coming on this journey with us, and we are proud to be the professional orchestra of this wonderful city and region in which we live, share, celebrate and create.

From all of us at CSO, our players – the heart and soul of the orchestra – our entire administration, support team and Board, we look forward to another year (our 66th!) of serving, stimulating and entertaining through our commitment to Puoro mā te katoa – Music for Everyone.

Dr Graham Sattler Kaiwhakahaere Matua | CEO Christchurch Symphony Orchestra