In Friday’s (7/5) The News-Press (Florida), Charles Runnells writes that the Fort Myers-based Southwest Florida Symphony “has been making headlines lately with its financial woes … Now—thanks to fundraising efforts and the public rallying … the symphony has whittled down its $200,000 debt to about $60,000. … Other local orchestras have had their own financial problems in recent years. … Symphonies are dealing with issues that are cutting into their bottom line, said [Jesse] Rosen [president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras]. Those include dwindling government arts funding, the recovering economy and the customer trend toward buying single tickets instead of subscriptions. … There are signs, however, symphonies in Southwest Florida and nationwide are recovering from the recession and starting to gain audiences,” among them the Charlotte Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, and Naples Philharmonic. “The troubled symphonies get all the press, Rosen said, but about two thirds of all symphonies that are League members actually saw financial gains in 2011. Compare that to 2009, when two-thirds reported deficits. … If symphonies want to survive, though, they’ll have to change and adapt … Orchestras are mixing the typical Bach and Beethoven programs with more pop-music offerings … Many national symphonies, including the Cleveland Orchestra, are offering concerts in bars and other informal settings. ‘There is a lot of experimenting going on right now,’ Rosen said. ‘A lot of these ideas are about generating an intimacy with audiences … and mixing up the genres a little bit.’”
Posted July 11, 2013
