“The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s ticket sales rose $1.1 million for the 2017-18 season, even as the institution faced an operating deficit of $900,000 during that period,” writes Howard Reich in Wednesday’s (10/17) Chicago Tribune. “This marked the organization’s eighth consecutive deficit, but it was ‘an improvement of more than ($500,000)’ over the previous fiscal year, according to a CSOA statement summarizing the institution’s annual report [reflecting] results of fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018)…. Ticket sales for CSOA events reached nearly $23.3 million…. The ‘CSO at the Movies’ series [earned] $561,000, up 21 percent over the previous year…. The CSO’s Main series subscription renewal rate was 86 percent…. The value of endowment investments rose to $303 million (from $292 million the previous year)…. The CSOA presented 443 programs…. 224 were free, an uptick from 200 the previous year. The CSO’s Latino Alliance, in its sixth year, grew by 24 percent to 343 active members, and the African American Network counted membership of more than 1,800 in its second year. Digital audiences also were up: Facebook followers rose 12 percent to 205,102; Twitter followers climbed 4 percent to 75,000; and Instagram followers rose 25 percent to 66,625.”
Posted October 17, 2018
