“A group of local business people and prominent citizens paid $210,000 at auction on Thursday for the assets of the Honolulu Symphony, which declared bankruptcy in October and was forced to liquidate,” writes Dan Wakin in the ArtsBeat blog in Thursday’s (3/17) New York Times. “Mark Polivka, who owns an insurance brokerage and is a member of the group, said the purchase was the first step in a plan to re-establish the orchestra. … Along with the music library, the purchase included percussion instruments, a harp and two grand pianos. Mr. Polivka said he hoped the former symphony musicians would be hired. Steven Monder, the retired president of the Cincinnati Symphony, and JoAnn Falletta, the music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, are helping develop the plan, he said.” A separate article in Thursday’s Pacific Business News (Hawaii) states that the money raised from the auction will go toward paying off some of the orchestra’s debt, listed as $3.6 million in 2009 court records, with a bankruptcy court hearing to confirm the sale scheduled for March 30.
Posted March 18, 2011
