Member Meredith Macpherson said she wrote to the board before Christmas raising concerns about the future direction of the organisation, but was yet to receive a response.
“I’m a bit disappointed that the board hasn’t communicated about the restructure or thoughts on the future,” she said.
The conservatorium began advertising for a business manager this week with a salary package ranging from $79,750 to $92,650.
Chairman Russell Turner confirmed they would later call for applications for a music director, splitting the role of former CEO Graham Sattler.
“We’ve made the package attractive because we believe we need to get somebody high calibre,” he said.
“If there is a slight increase in salaries I’m very confident we’ll see a steady increase in enrolments and it will better known in the community what the conservatorium does.”
Following his resignation Mr Sattler said the conventional structure for conservatoriums was to have a music educator as CEO.
But Mr Turner said 40 per cent of conservatoriums across the state handled the financial and musical roles separately.
“We believe it’s too big a task ... because we turnaround more than $1 million a year with the turnover from fees and government grants,” he said.
Mr Turner said the board was yet to decide the music director’s salary, but said it would be nowhere near as much as the business manager.
Mrs Macpherson fears the changes could downgrade music at the conservatorium and impact finances.
“If that’s the sort of money they are offering the business manager it raises questions of how much they can afford to pay the music director,” she said.
“They don’t function as a traditional business, they always rely on government funding and sponsorship.”
The board will discuss changes to the organisation’s constitution at a meeting next week to allow the CEO role to be split.
Mr Turner said temporary employees had filled two recent administration staff resignations and it would be left up to the business manager to decide if the roles would be replaced permanently.
The conservatorium is yet to receive Orange City Council’s $100,000 funding for a business plan but may not not need the full amount, Mr Turner said
While she was aware some parents were unhappy with the service at the conservatorium at the end of last year, she said she remained pleased with the “excellent teachers”.
“My issue is with the board not consulting or communicating or engaging with the stakeholders,” she said.
But Mr Turner said the communication had been adequate and members would know more when they received a newsletter prior to the Annual General Meeting in April.