The premier of South Australia has denounced plans to cut the Adelaide Symphony as a “trick” designed to shift the burden of funding orchestras from a national broadcaster (ABC) to state governments, and pledged to work with the federal government to preserve the orchestra in its current state. Meanwhile, the musicians of the ASO offered a protest of their own, performing quartets in an outdoor mall with one of the four players missing, to represent the proposed 25% cut in the orchestra’s personnel.