The Toronto Symphony Orchestra on Thursday capped a hectic year in which it found a new CEO and said goodbye to music director Peter Oundjian by announcing a budget surplus of $2.3 million,” writes John Terauds in Thursday’s (10/18) Toronto Star (Canada). “Last month, the orchestra announced the hiring of a new music director, Gustavo Gimeno, who will arrive in 2020. Although the TSO has been in the black for many years, the surplus for 2017-18 is significant. After many years of small, slow declines in ticket revenue, the organization posted a 17 per cent rise in ticket sales over the 2016-17 season. Subscription revenue has been steady, but revenue from single-ticket sales last season was up 26 per cent…. Interim CEO Gary Hanson … based increasing ticket revenue on a demand-pricing model similar to the one used by airlines.… (Hanson handed over the administrative leadership to new CEO Matthew Loden in July at the start of a new fiscal year.) The TSO has [reduced] an accumulated deficit of nearly $12 million at the start of 2015 to $4.5 million today. Largely with the help of private donors, the organization has a plan to eliminate the debt entirely in three years.”
Posted October 19, 2018
In photo: Gustavo Gimeno, who becomes the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s music director in 2020, conducts the orchestra in 2018. Photo by Jag Gundu
