Musicians from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) have flagged growing concern over management's refusal to stop a six-year-old recording of Dracula being used to undermine the work of live musicians.
The recording, which was done in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when many live performances were restricted, is now being used by the WA Ballet for their Adelaide run of Dracula instead of a live orchestra.
The WASO Players Committee today issued a statement, revealing that orchestra management had failed to address their concerns.
"West Australian Ballet's regrettable decision to perform Dracula in Adelaide using recorded music instead of engaging live musicians diminishes the audience's experience of ballet and denies musicians the dignity of work," the statement said.
"The recording, made by musicians of WASO, was not made to be used in any way that undermines the work of live musicians.
"WASO musicians do not support their work being used in this manner to avoid engaging live musicians.
"To protect their industry, [WASO musicians] wish to make public their demand, put formally to WASO management in December 2025, that their recording of Dracula is not made available for ballet performances in Adelaide, or in any circumstance where a live orchestra can and should be engaged."
The statement comes after more than 500 musicians from Australia and New Zealand rallied together in the wake of WA Ballet's decision, signing a motion calling on the company to engage musicians for Dracula and make a further commitment to keeping music live.
MEAA Musicians Director Paul Davies said the move was part of an emerging trend of performance arts companies devaluing live music, driven by cost-cutting.
"As the union for Australia's media and creative workers, which includes musicians, MEAA believes that WA Ballet has a responsibility to include live music in its productions, and we will continue to speak out when this doesn't happen," he said.
"Relying on recorded music is a huge disrespect to audiences and denies musicians the dignity of work.
"As MEAA's 2025 musicians survey found, almost half of the nation's working musicians are earning less than $15,000 a year in an industry where income insecurity and chronic undervaluation are commonplace.
"Arts institutions, such as the WA Ballet and WASO must uphold their responsibility to support artists and maintain the tradition of live music."
