AROUND TOWN//MUSIC: Arts organizations and the financial crisis

By Robert D. Thomas
Music Critic
Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
This article was first published today in the above papers.
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The financial woes of The Orchestras of Pasadena (the umbrella arm that encompasses the Pasadena Symphony, Pasadena Pops and Pasadena Youth Symphony) and the announcement this week that Opera Pacific is canceling the remainder of its 2008-09 season and will likely cease operations ought to be sending shockwaves through the classical music world, both for presenting organizations and audience members.

At a minimum, they lay bare a problem striking at the heart of how we present and value classical music in this country, a problem now in sharper focus because of the current financial meltdown.

By the way, the problem isn’t locally based. New York City Opera is also struggling to stay afloat, albeit for some different reasons; on Friday, NYCO's incoming general manager and artistic advisor, Gerard Mortier, announced he was leaving before he evan began because the NYCO board had not delivered on its promised budget for the 2009-2010 season).

Moreover, we've had orchestras in crisis during the past half-century (locally both the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Long Beach Symphony went through bankruptcy scares).

However, the TOP issues seem a little different. Things seemed promising for TOP, which, by the way does not include the California Philharmonic. The TOP endowment was about $7 million earlier this year and recent years have seemed to be stable in terms of attendance, high quality and budget issues. Then the market crashed and, like many of us, TOP took a major hit. Its endowment has fallen to a point where no income can be drawn from it.

Underneath all of this, however, are two undeniable facts that apply to all music organizations.

First, concert ticket sales account for only a percentage of the amount of money it takes to put on programs. There's no hard rule or easy formula but 30-50 percent is about the average. For some groups that present free concerts (e.g., Rio Hondo Symphony, Pasadena Presbyterian Church), ticket sales are, of course, nonexistent. The balance of the budget comes from fund raising.

Second, costs continue to rise, as they do for everyone. To cite just one example: as a publisher I can attest to the sharp increases in paper prices, costs which affect everything from letterhead to marketing materials and printed programs. Musicians and administrators like to eat and have other escalating expenses, as well.

There's no magic solution to this dilemma. For decades, we've been able to balance this seeming dichotomy because millions of people have stepped up to the plate and donated funds to keep music (and other arts) alive. Governments do provide some support but compared to Europe, for example, it's miniscule. Instead, it is corporations, foundations and individuals that have kept the flame burning and, with rare exceptions, the system has worked, albeit with little or no margin for error.

Fund-raising operates on an 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the donors give 20 percent of the money and 20 percent give 80 percent. When economic times hit hard, as they have these past couple of months, even the 20 percent who constitute big givers get skittish, just like the rest of us.

The Orchestras of Pasadena are beginning a massive "get out the donations" drive, the results of which will go a long way to determining the organization's future. It has also cut staff and other costs dramatically. But it's important to remember that this crisis affects every arts group; they all either reeling or, at a minimum, adopting ultra-cautious attitudes. So now is the time for everyone who believes in the power of classical music — or opera, or theatre, or art, etc. — to step up to the plate and contribute, even a little, to keep the flame burning brightly.

All of which leads me to the Ring Festival, announced earlier this week by a consortium of arts organizations headed by Los Angeles Opera. This 10-week festival — from April 15 to June 30, 2010 — will coincide with L.A. Opera's presentation of Richard Wagner's massive cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen in June of that year.

I love a party as much as the next person, but you have to wonder at the timing of this announcement. It certainly presents interesting programming options for the 50 or so arts groups who have expressed support, but is the "bang for the buck" really all that great, especially given that the three Ring cycles will draw less than 10,000 individuals, only some of which will come from out of town?

Moreover, even if you determine that the festival is, in fact, worthwhile, was it really necessary to make the announcement 18 months in advance of the festival, at a time when people are seeing their retirements hammered, losing their homes, losing their jobs, etc.? There are allegories to this in the Ring, itself; perhaps the organizers should have studied them.
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• For an analysis of Opera Pacific's demise, read Timothy Mangan's column in the Orange County Register HERE.
• For an analysis on Gerard Moriter's departure from the New York City Opera, read Daniel J. Wakin's New York Times story HERE.

(c) Copyright 2008, Robert D. Thomas. All rights reserved. Portions may be quoted with attribution.

Comments

[Bob Montgomery]

The Washington Post is reporting that the Washington National Opera has indefinatly postponed its Ring cycle, scheduled for the 2009-10 season.