“The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has made a successful debut on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter, exceeding a goal of $30,000 to support the orchestra’s trip in May to Carnegie Hall,” writes Elizabeth Bloom in Thursday’s (2/27) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The money will help fund the PSO’s participation in the Spring for Music festival in New York City. The festival presents orchestras from across the continent, so PSO officials thought a Kickstarter campaign—the organization’s first—would appropriately demonstrate community support for the symphony…. The orchestra publicized the campaign through social media and email and encouraged individuals within its own ranks to contribute and share the project with others. … ‘It was very much a grass-roots effort,’ said [Al Jacobsen, senior manager of corporate and tour sponsorship]. The total cost of the New York tour is roughly $300,000, with the remainder coming from the festival’s artist fee, individual donors and corporate sponsorship. Arts organizations increasingly have relied on Kickstarter to fund creative projects. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Nashville Symphony have led successful Kickstarter campaigns, and the Austin Symphony Orchestra recently launched one as well.”
Posted March 3, 2014
