“The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has met—and exceeded—the $7 million goal for its Orchestrating the Future fundraising campaign,” writes Eric Harrison in Tuesday’s (7/5) Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock). “Members of the Arkansas Youth Orchestras made the announcement Monday night from the stage of the Riverfront Amphitheatre in the wake of a ‘flash mob’ drum line moving through the crowd at Pops on the River…. Some of the money … has been helping cover its budget during the two years it will have been out of its home, Robinson Center Music Hall [during renovations].… ASO Executive Director Christina Littlejohn said the orchestra had planned for the estimated loss of ‘about $400,000, 25 percent of our sales revenue, while we were out of the hall.’ That’s due to the differential between the roughly 2,500 available tickets for each performance at Robinson” and the number of tickets at the smaller Maumelle Performing Arts Center and Connor Performing Arts Center. Said ASO board Chairman Dr. Richard Wheeler, “It’s amazing the support that the community has given us to support a professional orchestra in an area our size.”
Posted July 6, 2016
Pictured: Philip Mann leads the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra at Little Rock’s Riverfront Amphitheatre. Photo by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
