“The Kansas City Symphony will continue to make music for years with the successful completion of a $55 million fundraising campaign to strengthen its endowment,” writes Matt Campbell in Wednesday’s (10/11) Kansas City Star (Kansas City, MO). “That’s good news for anyone who enjoys classical music or the annual patriotic fanfare of Celebration at the Station or the Flint Hills event. The pledges came in amounts ranging from $10 to $10 million…. The symphony’s endowment now tops $100 million. The orchestra plans to draw from it to supplement its $17 million annual operating budget. Ticket revenue covers less than 40 percent of operating costs. … ‘While the completion of the Masterpiece campaign will supply a much more stable base of funding, symphony leaders understand that operating expenses will continue to grow and that a growing annual fundraising effort will be required to sustain the symphony’s impressive momentum,’ the symphony said in a statement. The Kansas City Symphony employs 80 full-time musicians and performs more than 100 concerts each season at the Kauffman Center as well as 60 performances with the Kansas City Ballet and the Lyric Opera. Music director Michael Stern said the successful endowment campaign is ‘a watershed moment.’ ”
Posted October 12, 2017
Pictured: The Kansas City Symphony performs its annual Memorial Day weekend concert at Union Station. Photo by Andrew Birgensmith
