“When the Sarasota Orchestra recently announced that it would be seeking alternative sites and plans for a new concert hall complex in the city of Sarasota, that decision was not based on vanity or frustration, but necessity,” writes Edward Alley, a conductor and orchestra manager, in last Wednesday’s (7/25) YourObserver.com (Sarasota, FL). “ ‘There is an urgency to this decision that underlies our strategy and need if we are to continue fulfilling our mission and serving the community,’ says Joseph McKenna, president and CEO of the orchestra. The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was originally built as a rehearsal and performance home for Sarasota organizations, with rentals filling in the gaps, but as time passed … these rentals increased, severely limiting availability for the Sarasota Orchestra…. The Sarasota Orchestra has budgeted nearly $750,000 for the coming season to pay for hall rentals and associated costs…. The Van Wezel is still at best not well suited for non-amplified music…. Then there are the [orchestra’s] educational programs … more than 300 student musicians in the eight ensembles [and] Young Persons Concerts [for] some 10,000 fourth and fifth graders…. Currently there is no room for the much-needed expansion of these services.”
Posted August 1, 2018
