“The Montreal Chamber Orchestra is seeking $40,000 on Kickstarter,” writes Leah Collins in Thursday (8/13) at Canada’s CBC website. “The money will fund the first concert of their 42nd season…. ‘This is probably the most shocking thing we’ve had to deal with in the 41 years we’ve existed.’ Wanda Kaluzny is talking about the funding crisis facing the Montreal Chamber Orchestra, which she founded in 1974…. ‘We find artists from all over the place, and then bring them to Montreal before anybody else does,’ says Kaluzny. [Tenor] Ben Heppner … made his orchestral debut with the MCO in 1980…. Many others have performed with the group when they were up-and-comers…. As of writing, roughly $4,000 has been contributed. The deadline for pledges is September 19—just 10 days before the show. In late March … Kaluzny says they lost a significant contribution, $100,000 in corporate funding care of Domtar Corp. That represents a quarter of the MCO’s annual budget of $400,000…. ‘We will have to postpone some concerts, without any doubt,’ she says. But if their Kickstarter campaign succeeds, they can at least guarantee the first show of their upcoming season.”
Posted August 18, 2015
