In Thursday’s (12/16) Grand Rapids Press (Michigan), Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk writes, “Grand Rapids Symphony, bucking the national trend, has closed its books solidly in the black for the 2009-10 season ending Aug. 31. The orchestra announced today it ended last season with a $66,000 surplus for the year, a projection predicted in May, but a sharp turnaround from a $493,000 shortfall the previous season. By trimming nearly that much—more than $480,000—from artistic expenses and concert production, the organization helped turned a sea of red ink into a trickle of black, though a trickle that’s still less than 1 percent of its $8.2 million operating budget. … During a tough year for the state budget, the orchestra’s public funding from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs was slashed more than $205,000 to just $11,200. At the same time in a weak economy, nearly $210,000 in income from the orchestra’s endowment funds melted away from the previous fiscal year. But orchestra’s development staff during the last season raised an additional $426,000, overcoming both of those losses, with private contributions totaling nearly 10 percent above the previous year’s mark of $4.3 million.”
Posted December 17, 2010
