In Wednesday’s (2/17) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin reports, “The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is shrinking its budget, curtailing programming, and trimming staff by about 13 percent. Yesterday the arts center dismissed 15 staffers—including its chief artistic voice, the vice president for programming and education, as well as the vice president of marketing and communications. Artistic offerings next season will be cut. … One aim of the cuts, which the Kimmel is calling ‘an ambitious internal reorganization plan,’ is to trim the budget and, in turn, reduce the rent the Kimmel charges its resident companies, which include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and, for some of its concerts, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. … The orchestra paid the Kimmel $2.43 million in rent in 2008 for Verizon Hall (excluding labor and production costs), according to the orchestra. It previously performed in the Academy of Music, which it still owns outright. [Kimmel President Anne] Ewers said that projects such as a $1.6 million acoustical renovation in Verizon Hall planned for this summer and a remake of the public spaces (price tag as yet undetermined) would go forward as money is secured.”
Posted February 18, 2010
