High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) exists to support, promote and advance the interests and activities of professional orchestras in the UK. The organisation was founded in 1947 as the Orchestral Employers` Association, primarily to negotiate with the Musicians` Union (UK) and other bodies on behalf of its membership, which consisted almost entirely at that time of those orchestras receiving annual funding from the newly established Arts Council of Great Britain. The past decade has seen a substantial development in the organisation in terms of its size (an increase from 35 organisations in 1989 to over 150 today) and its role has expanded to include a diverse range of activities designed to support the development of the UK`s orchestral life. The ABO holds an annual conference, which will next be at the Derby Assembly Rooms from 16–18 February 2011, hosted by sinfonia ViVA.