Disagreements about the reappointment of Čavdarski (specifically, how much he should be paid and whether he should continue to split his time between Christchurch and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) rapidly snowballed into a major conflict.
After realising he had fallen out with Pickering, Čavdarski offered to resign to placate the board, despite still being very popular with the musicians and the people of Christchurch in general.
[8] Controversially the board voted to accept this resignation without all members being present, resulting in the perception that Čavdarski had been sacked by Pickering.
[9] Pickering nominated William Southgate as a replacement conductor, and he was soon confirmed in the position,[10] though members of the orchestra objected to the process.
Pickering enlisted support from the Arts Council (now Creative New Zealand), who eventually refused to continue funding the group unless their structure was changed to appoint an administrator with total power to run the orchestra.
This arrangement did not last long, and was itself replaced within months by an interim management committee led by new Christchurch mayor Hamish Hay.
[13] With the remaining foundation board refusing to co-operate with the proposed changes, a completely new and independent organisation — the Canterbury Orchestra Trust — was formed instead.
[14] While the CSO no longer had grants from the various councils that had been pressuring it to change, it did still have the goodwill of a lot of public supporters who kept the orchestra alive through donations.
The newly expanded Christchurch City Council agreed to increase their grant, but only if performances were made at a reduced ticket price for ratepayers.
[26] In 2004 Creative New Zealand and the Christchurch City Council insisted on further restructuring to remove conflicts of interest between the management of the orchestra and supporting groups, including musicians.
They continued to perform, but on a more ad-hoc basis at smaller venues, including Ballantynes department store[31] and an aircraft hangar at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.
[32] Local MP and Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee wanted the Town Hall demolished and replaced with a new performing-arts precinct,[33] but in 2013 the Christchurch City Council instead voted to repair and upgrade the damaged building.
[34] The CSO had been considering building an alternative venue in a hanger at the former Wigram Aerodrome, built in partnership with Ngāi Tahu, but this plan was shelved when the decision to retain the Town Hall was made.
[35] The refurbished Town Hall reopened in 2019, with a joint concert between the CSO and Christchurch drum and bass band Shapeshifter.