About this organisation
Summary of activities
Our principal activity is to encourage, promote and support the Australian Chamber Orchestra and it's performing activities and other activities to a large and diverse domestic and international audience as possible. 2022 will perhaps be remembered as the year that the ACO embarked on its greatest adventure yet. The ACO moved into its first permanent home, the spectacular Pier 2/3 premises at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct. Our move to Pier 2/3 represented a new chapter for the ACO, filled with an abundance of opportunities and creative and collaborative potential. The ACO team dramatically expanding our traditional audience offerings to include ACO Up Close series which shone a spotlight on the exceptional talents of our Principal musicians, our ACO Relaxed Concerts, which presented the ACO s mainstage concerts within a flexible setting tailored to those for whom a traditional concert experience may be inaccessible, broadcasting digital streams live from our very own concert hall, regular school holiday programs and workshops for young audiences, and inviting our friends and collaborators from across the globe to give concerts in this magnificent space. Following what were undoubtably the most devastating and disruptive 2 years for the performing arts industry, the ACO resumed its touring activities with gusto in 2022, performing a record 227 concerts to audiences across Australia and abroad. ACO made a welcome return to international touring, performing concerts in residence at Berlin s Pierre Boulez Saal and at London s Barbican Centre. 2022 was also the year that Richard Tognetti and the Orchestra premiered River, our much-anticipated cinematic collaboration. We are delighted with the recognition that Richard Tognetti s score for the production has received, with the River soundtrack receiving the 2022 ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack Album, 2022 AACTA Award for Best Original Score in a Documentary and 2022 APRA-AMCOS Screen Music Award for Best Soundtrack Album. The ACO s Learning & Engagement program had a remarkable year. Due to the incredible facilities and spaces at ACO Pier 2/3, we were able to expand our award-winning ACO Families series, creating, producing and premiering two new ACO Families shows in 2022, How to Catch a Star and Dear Santa. In addition, we remounted our sell-out show There s a Sea in my Bedroom, which, following an opening run at ACO Pier 2/3, embarked on a 60-concert tour across regional venues in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. We are proud to share that these three ACO Families shows were seen by over 13,000 young people and their families in 2022, almost all of which were first-time audiences to the ACO. In addition, over 12,000 hours of music education and mentoring activities were delivered by the ACO to 300 young people and developing musicians last year, through ACO's early years, talent development and community engagement programs.
Like what you see?
Outcomes
Outcomes are self-reported by charities
Programs and activities
Name: ACO Live Performances
Classification: Performing arts (Arts and culture > Performing arts )
Beneficiaries:- General community in Australia
Name: ACO Talent Development Programs
URL: https://www.aco.com.au/learning-and-outreach/talent-development-programs
Classification: Arts education (Arts and culture > Arts services > Arts education )
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: ACO Early Years and Community Engagement Programs
URL: https://www.aco.com.au/learning-and-outreach/schools-programs/
Classification: Arts education (Arts and culture > Arts services > Arts education )
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Early childhood - aged under 6
- Families
- People with disabilities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Music Commissioning and new work
Classification: Musical theatre (Arts and culture > Performing arts > Theatre > Musical theatre)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Early childhood - aged under 6
- Families
- General community in Australia
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: ACO On-Demand - (StudioCasts, HomeCasts, Livestreams)
URL: https://www.acoondemand.com/browse
Classification: Performing arts (Arts and culture > Performing arts )
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- General community in Australia
- Overseas communities or charities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: ACO Music and Movement Classes
Classification: Arts education (Arts and culture > Arts services > Arts education )
Beneficiaries:- Early childhood - aged under 6
- General community in Australia
Name: ACO International Performances
Classification: Performing arts (Arts and culture > Performing arts )
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Families
- Overseas communities or charities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Finances
What is this?
This graph shows how much revenue (money in) and expenses (money out) the charity has had each year over the last few years. Charities have many sources of revenue, such as donations, government grants, and services they sell to the public. Similarly, expenses are everything that allows the charity to run, from paying staff to rent.
What should I be looking for?
First off, this graph gives a general indication of how big the charity is - charities range in size from tiny (budgets of less than $100,000) to enormous (budgets more than $100 million). You're also looking for variability - if the charity's revenue and expenses are jumping up and down from year to year, make sure there's a good reason for it.
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want revenue to be slightly above expenses. If expenses is reliably above revenue, the charity is losing money. If revenue is much larger than expenses, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
If a charity receives more money than it spends, that's a surplus (in business, it would be called profit). If it spends more than it receives, that's a deficit. This chart shows surpluses and deficits for the charity over the last few years.
What should I be looking for?
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want a charity to make a small surplus on average. A deficit means that charity lost money that year, which may indicate poor financial management or just a series of bad circumstances. If the charity always has a huge surplus, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
This chart compares the amount the charity receives from various sources, including donations (i.e. money given by the general public or philanthropy), goods and services, government grants, and other sources.
What should I be looking for?
Donations are an important source of revenue for some charities. Others rely more heavily on government funding, or on revenue from other sources. This is an indication of how much they need donors to accomplish their mission. Note that there is no 'good' or 'bad' amount of donations for a charity to have. It might be interesting to look at values over time - are they going up or down? A charity that gets less donations every year may be in trouble.
What is this?
Assets are things that the charity owns that are worth something. This could be anything from a car to investments. Similarly, liabilities are debts or obligations that the charity owes to someone else, like a loan or an agreement to pay for something.
What should I be looking for?
Firstly, in general a charity should have more assets than liabilities. If it doesn't, it implies that the charity might not be able to pay its debts, and you should look very closely at the charity's annual and financial reports to make sure they are taking steps to remedy this. Current assets should generally be above current liabilities - that means the charity can easily pay off the debts that are coming due soon. Beyond that, look for a large stockpile of assets. While a charity should have enough assets to keep it afloat in hard times (a 'buffer') if that stockpile gets too large the charity could be using that money more effectively. As always, if you have concerns check the annual and financial reports.
Transparency
Scoring detail
Details