Sydney Symphony Orchestra parts ways with chief executive Emma Dunch

Exiting Sydney Symphony Orchestra head Emma Dunch leaves with all guns blazing, issuing extarordinary statement.

Emma Dunch, centre, with Sydney Symphony Orchestra musicians Claire Herrick, Harry Bennetts and Kees Boersma. Picture: John Feder

Sydney Symphony Orchestra chief executive Emma Dunch has come out with all guns blazing, ­accusing the NSW government of not honouring a funding commitment and declaring she had been the target of a “hit job”.

As SSO chair Geoff Wilson on Friday announced Ms Dunch’s ­departure after four years as CEO, Ms Dunch issued an extraordinary personal statement in which she called out “vilification and harassment” by government staff.

“We all know that NSW politics is a blood sport, but I have been targeted with a politically architected ‘hit job’ of the highest order across the past several years,” she said in the statement.

Ms Dunch was appointed in 2017 and has led the orchestra through a challenging period, ­including the two-year closure of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, the orchestra’s main venue, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She secured Simone Young as the orchestra’s chief conductor from next year, when the SSO will return to the newly refurbished Concert Hall. She led a commissioning program of 50 New Australian compositions, and she has also increased philanthropic support for the orchestra.

But two weeks ago, reports emerged claiming that Ms Dunch’s assertive management style had harmed the orchestra’s relationship with some of its key stakeholders.

A review conducted by experienced orchestra manager Tim Walker, quoted in The Australian Financial Review, said that Ms Dunch had “demonstrated a lack of awareness” in her dealings with funding bodies and the Opera House.

“This is not a failure of passion, hard work or intelligence,” his ­report said. “It is the result of a lack of knowledge of managing a symphony orchestra and a character that seeks to assert control rather than build consensus.”

Ms Dunch has argued that the NSW government did not deliver the remaining $5m of a promised $10m grant to assist the SSO through the Concert Hall closure.

In her statement on Friday, she said she encountered “ongoing vilification and harassment” as she pressed the NSW arts ministry to honour that funding commitment.

“It has been an ugly business and I will be taking appropriate ­action via the government corruption channels available to me,” her statement said.

“This damaging behaviour by government workers must be called out and discredited. It is ­abhorrent and destructive. Our cultural institutions and their hardworking leaders must demand better from the people employed by our elected politicians.”

Mr Wilson said the SSO was grateful to Ms Dunch for her leadership and she had been a “dedicated, optimistic and energetic leader”. No reason was given for her departure.

A spokeswoman for NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin said he was not available for comment.

Ms Dunch said she was proud to have served the orchestra and would continue to support it. “When I accepted this role, there was a massive change project to manage, and I am proud of all that has been accomplished,” she said.

“Mine was a very specific assignment to identify new artistic leadership, guide the orchestra through the anticipated economic and artistic challenges of a multi-year venue disruption, identify and secure the funding needed, and see the musicians successfully back into the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Little did we know that Covid-19 would add numerous additional complexities.”

She plans to write a blog about the state of the Australian arts and culture sector and the governance of not-for-profit organisations.