“The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra said that it has achieved a balanced budget for the third straight year after hitting new sales and attendance records in the 2015-’16 season,” writes David Schuyler in Wednesday’s (9/28) Milwaukee Business Journal. “The MSO’s $17 million in revenue in 2015-16 matched the season’s expense budget, said Andy Nunemaker, chair of the MSO board of directors…. The MSO said it had 20 sold-out performances, split evenly between pops and classics concerts. Sellouts were driven by the MSO’s popular movie series … and special guest performances by world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Renee Fleming…. The MSO reports a 32 percent gain in new patrons compared with the previous season. That was primarily driven by a modest change in programming…. Adding an extra pops feature without impacting the classics helped drive immediate improvement, with a 13 percent increase in ticket sales and attendance two years ago.… The symphony also reached a new two-year agreement with the musicians that will keep salaries flat for the current season [and] allows for a modest pay increase in the second year of the contract.… The MSO also saw a more than 4 percent increase in contributed income for the year, with nearly 1,500 first-time donors.”
Posted September 29, 2016
In photo: Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart. Photo by Janet McMillan
