consider alternative revenue sources, including listener donations and commercial sponsorship of RNZ Concert programmes, to help cover the network's operating costs. Commercial sponsorship has been criticised by opposition MPs and activism group Save RNZ, was rejected by former chief executive Peter Cavanagh, and continues to be resisted by current chief executive Paul Thompson. The Concert programme has drawn criticism for its Government funding. It has faced allegations of elitism, left-wing bias, and serving wealthy audiences and minority interests. Equally, it has been accused of closely following commercial radio formats and failing to perform as a public broadcaster without commercial constraints. Supporters of the network have said it performs well on a small budget. In response, David Farrar has called for the station to be scrapped, saying it "plays basically German classical music" when "almost every piece of classical music in history is available for free and can be streamed, made into playlists and the like". On 5 February 2020, RNZ announced plans to lay off most of RNZ Concert's staff, including all presenters. The plan would shift broadcasts from its FM frequencies to the AM Network and make the station presenterless, more akin to a music streaming service than a traditional radio station. This was to free up resources and FM frequencies for a new youth-focused network. Opponents of the plan, including Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Helen Clark, call the cuts "very concerning" and question whether youth would even tune in the proposed new radio service. The proposed changes were eventually dropped. Live performances New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Recorded performances of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra have been one of the cornerstones of the programming since the orchestra was first formed. The orchestra began as a department of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, which later became Radio New Zealand, in 1946. Despite the formal separation, Symphony Orchestra performances continue to be recorded, broadcast and archived by RNZ Concert. Auckland Town Hall, Wellington Town Hall and Michael Fowler Centre performances are broadcast live-to-air and streamed online, and performances in other centres or overseas cities are usually recorded and broadcast at a later date. On many occasions the pieces are from prominent composers, like Gustav Mahler, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sergei Prokofiev or Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. On other occasions, they are the work of local composers like Gareth Farr, John Psathas, Eve de Castro-Robinson, or Chris Watson. Young composers Each