“The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra held its annual meeting on Monday and announced good news on all fronts for the 2015-16 fiscal year,” the first year for President and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard, writes Sarah Bryan Miller in Monday’s (11/14) St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri). “For the first time in this century, the SLSO had positive cash flow, with total operating revenue of $28.4 million and adjusted operating expenses of $28.1 million…. For the second year in a row, sales and attendance at classical concerts increased…. Among other highlights, the orchestra undertook an arresting multimedia production of Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Des canyons aux étoiles,’ with visuals from West Coast photographer Deborah O’Grady…. Philanthropic support is up, too. The annual campaign brought in almost $8 million from 5,400 donors…. The endowment grew to over $200 million by the end of August…. Other high points … included the Music Without Boundaries initiative, which welcomed new immigrants and refugees to the SLSO’s Family Concerts…. The SymphonyCares program marked its fifth year of performing for patients … at the St. Louis University Cancer Center…. The In Unison program continued, adding a pilot collaboration between it and the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, launching a peer-to-peer mentoring program.”
Posted November 15, 2016
In photo: David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony
