The MSO hit the headlines internationally in August when then-managing director Sophie Galaise removed guest pianist Jayson Gillham from the orchestra’s line-up after he dedicated a piece of music to journalists killed in Gaza.
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Gillham is suing Galaise personally, as well as the MSO, in a case set for mediation next week.
The Gillham incident prompted the MSO’s Players’ Association to write to the board asking for an explanation of what happened, and calling for Galaise and chief operating officer Guy Ross to be sacked. Within a week, Galaise had been sacked by the board. She subsequently took legal action against the MSO, which was settled recently.
A review of the organisation was then announced, to have been overseen by former MP and Midnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett. But delays caused by the legal action meant Garrett was no longer available to run it. KPMG is now completing the review.
On the financial front, Wigley will oversee a reduction in head count in administration, cutting about 10 roles, with staff to number in the mid-40s when the cuts have been made.
“Also [for] 2024 we’ve got a number of one-off costs, postponed major concerts and other one-off costs as you might expect, given the situation, so this year is a very difficult one,” he says. “But they’re not recurring, and we have the reserves to cover it – that’s why you have reserves.”
Other streams of revenue are also in his sights.
“I’m a generalist in this situation – if you create an energy and excitement and a buzz, something that people want to be part of, the money will follow. That’s been my experience in the past,” he says.
Asked about the axing last year of the MSO’s Pizzicato Effect, in which musicians taught students in disadvantaged areas of Melbourne, Wigley says he is a huge fan of such community programs.
“We had one in Belfast, which you can imagine in a divided community is a really tough proposition … I need to look more closely at the Pizzicato Effect and why those changes were made,” he says.
Such systemic programs are important for a range of reasons, he says, citing teamwork, cognitive abilities, confidence and communication. It’s transformative, and that’s known, he says.
“Also particularly in parts of society where life is really difficult, this is an oasis.”
A classical bassoonist, Wigley studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in the United States before playing the bassoon for the Halle orchestra in Manchester. At Halle, he was appointed the orchestra’s education director and then head of artistic planning.
He went on to head the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for a decade and was managing director of the Ulster Orchestra in Northern Ireland for six years. Most recently, he spent nine months as interim CEO for the Dunard Centre, a new concert hall being developed for Edinburgh.
But he still sees himself as a musician: “I don’t play any more, but I still have the artistic mindset and the willingness to look at things 100 different ways.”
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