In Friday’s (5/3) Chronicle of Philanthropy, Denver Frederick interviews Deborah Borda, president and CEO of the New York Philharmonic, for a podcast and article. “Q: The New York Philharmonic was founded in 1842. Borda: It was the first American orchestra to tour Europe. It was the first American orchestra to be on radio and TV…. It was the first American orchestra to allow women to attend concerts unaccompanied by a man…. When the Philharmonic truly flourishes, it’s when it dares to be innovative. Q: What’s your approach to managing finances? Borda: One of the places you have to start is that even if we sell out David Geffen Hall … that covers only about half of the cost of putting on a concert…. You don’t want to charge $500 a ticket because it’s simply too expensive…. The future of the orchestras will not be in earning more money. It will be in philanthropy…. The next step is to really build a vision that the institution shares and moves towards. And when people share a vision, they’re inspired by it. They move towards it. You can then put the kind of mechanics in place that can raise the money that you need.”
Posted May 6, 2019
Deborah Borda photo by Jürgen Frank
