This study investigates the effects of funding, and the pressure to justify one's existence in relation to funders, on the strategies, management control and conditions for long-term organizational learning and knowledge management in arts organizations. Published theories and previous studies of the relationship between organizational funding, strategy and management argue that, with the increased focus on costs and financial control, organizations will have difficulty maintaining an internal rationale based on culture and looser forms of control. The authors develop a framework that includes the concepts of knowledge management and long-term organizational learning. Using insights from a comparative case study of two chamber orchestras, one British and one Swedish, they analyze the conditions for the long-term build-up of artistic knowledge and thus the achievement of high quality.