All other states in Australia have youth orchestras funded by government, with the largest contribution from the Tasmanian government which provides $276,000 a year. The Victorian government has funded Melbourne Youth Orchestras since it was established in 1967.

First mooted in September last year, the cuts were confirmed to Melbourne Youth Orchestra officially in December.

Chief executive of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra Dorian Jones told The Age that “you can’t have orchestras unless you support youth orchestras”.

Having been in the role for a decade, Jones said that this is where young musicians “find their tribe”. “We cultivate an environment where kids’ postcodes, cultural backgrounds and finances stay outside the rehearsal room. What unites them is a love of music.”

Melbourne Youth Orchestra’s program delivery has doubled over the past decade, although funding remained static and was down to less than 10 per of the organisation’s total income; the rest is raised through fundraising and fees, Jones said.

Program alumnus Ben Northey is now chief conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the associate conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. “I have no doubt that my pathway to a career as a professional musician would have been severely impacted if this pathway wasn’t available,” he said.

Growing up in Ballarat, Northey’s mother would drive him to Melbourne every Saturday for rehearsals. He said it was not just an education issue, but also about mental health and wellbeing for young people.

“I’ve heard from a number of young people that sometimes this sense of belonging to an orchestra or a music group – it’s literally life-saving,” he said. “It’s that important for young people, the sense of community and the outlet creatively that they find in this sort of extra-curricular activity on the weekend.”

Shadow minister for the arts David Davis has addressed the issue in parliament twice, calling on the government to reinstate the funding. “This $200,000 cut is a mean and nasty cut, and the two departments, education and creative industries, are respectively pointing fingers at each other,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the government was proud to give students the opportunity to learn about music at school, pointing to the annual school spectacular and other learning programs.

This week, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra announced a new music education program for school students in Victoria. Called Jams in Schools, the initiative is targeted at students from prep to year 6 from lower socio-economic backgrounds. It will reach about 5000 young people across metropolitan Melbourne each year.

Starting in the City of Hume in April, it replaces the Pizzicato Effect, a schools program also aimed at disadvantaged students, which was quietly cut from the orchestra’s programming last year.