“The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has a big year ahead,” writes Lindsey Erdody in Friday’s (1/3) Indianapolis Business Journal. “In 2020, the organization will hire a new concertmaster, begin the search for a new conductor to succeed Krzysztof Urbański, and negotiate a new contract with its musicians. And … the symphony has had a budget deficit two years in a row—including $750,000 in 2019. [CEO James] Johnson said … he’s confident the orchestra will be able to bounce back from this latest budget gap…. Jesse Rosen, president and CEO of the League of American Orchestras, said it’s common for orchestras to occasionally have deficits. ‘I think what one pays attention to is the size of the deficit and the frequency of the deficit,’ Rosen said…. The core of the orchestra will always be classical music, [Johnson] said, but the ISO has to serve all members of the community…. Rosen said symphonies have to be prepared to experiment.… He said some orchestras have tried 20-minute concerts mixed with immersive, three-hour concerts and others have tried a formal orchestra performance followed by an opportunity for patrons to dance in a club-like setting…. ‘They were effective in bringing new people to the orchestra,’ Rosen said.”
In photo: Music Director Krzysztof Urbański and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
