“At its annual meeting Thursday, the once-beleaguered Detroit Symphony Orchestra announced its sixth consecutive year in the black, and its fourth year in a row of steadily rising ticket revenue,” reports Michael H. Hodges in Thursday’s (12/13) Detroit News. “ ‘While we celebrate all that we have accomplished,’ DSO Board Chairman Mark A. Davidoff told the meeting, ‘we continue to … plan for even greater impact …’ DSO President and CEO Anne Parsons laid out three goals for the near term—continuing to cement the orchestra’s finances, growing and diversifying audiences, and strengthening the DSO brand…. The economic good news capped a year marked by a parade of world premieres of contemporary music, and yet another successful three-week winter festival.… It was also Leonard Slatkin’s 10th and final season as music director, and he has now taken up the mantle of music director laureate, with a commitment to stay through the 2019-20 season…. For the 2017-18 fiscal year, which ended in August, the DSO pulled in operating revenue of $28.76 million, with operating expenses of $28.72 million—netting a surplus of $40,000. Gross ticket sales rose 1 percent over the previous season to $7.32 million, while total earned revenue hit $8.96 million.”
Posted December 14, 2018
