A petition was handed to Minister for Education Mary Hanafin yesterday asking that the junior and senior orchestras of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (NYOI) not be amalgamated.
It follows the resignations before the weekend of two board members, Caitríona Ryan and Nathan Power. Mr Power is the orchestra manager of the senior orchestra.
Four members of the board have now resigned in protest at the decision made by fellow board members.
Under the new structure, the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland (ages 12-18) and the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (18-24) would be merged from 2008.
It will create an orchestra with players aged 14-21. The board of the NYOI said it was difficult to attract musicians of a requisite standard to justify the running of two orchestras. However, the petition, containing 1,150 signatures, is part of a campaign that has included a musical protest on Dublin's Grafton Street and the handing out of leaflets at a Handel recital in Temple Bar.
The petition was handed to Ms Hanafin on the steps of the National Concert Hall before The Irish Times Music in the Classroom event.
The Department of Education is one of three main funders of the NYOI, alongside Toyota and the Arts Council.
The Arts Council met with the board of the NYOI last week. According to a spokesman for the council, "discussions are ongoing".
The NYOI is currently without a general manager since the retirement of Joanna Crooks in August 2006. Ms Crooks has since criticised the delay in recruiting her replacement.
The latest resignations from the board follow those of Donagh Collins and the manager of the younger orchestra, Una McMahon.
