Category: music

“Thanks to vigorous cost controls, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra ended its 2009-10 fiscal year with a balanced budget, despite small declines in both audience numbers and donations. This marks the seventh straight balanced budget for the SPCO.”

“The Minnesota Orchestra balanced its budget for fiscal 2009-10. Tight financial controls resulted in a slim $8,000 surplus on expenses of $30.8 million, even as attendance and donations fell.”

“The recent economic meltdown left the Cleveland Orchestra little place to go last year but up. And that, in fact, is where it’s gone. Slightly. … [A] second year of deficit [was] offset by moderate increases in philanthropy, attendance and the value of its endowment.”

“Despite standing ovations in Europe, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra faces a possible shake-up after one of the most difficult times in its 64-year history. Documents reveal that the NZSO has been in talks with government agencies about its future and its relationship with the four regional orchestras,” which are all worried about their own funding.

“After eight months of uncertainty, the musicians of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra have accepted the terms of a proposed new contract that reduces the size of the full-time core from 36 to 24 and shrinks the size of the operating budget from $2.3 million to $1.3 million for the first year.” The new base salary for musicians: $14,000.

“Ticket revenue for the P.E.I. Jazz and Blues Festival declined by 30 per cent this year, leaving organizers trying to figure out what went wrong.”

The administration’s decision – made following the breakdown of negotiations with musicians last week – “raises the number of cancellations since the beginning of the season to 34 concerts, about 30% of the season.”

Visiting Western opera stars receive tumultuous ovations; the National Center for the Performing Arts (“The Egg”) in Beijing presents operas year-round and mounts a major annual festival; some successful Chinese singers abroad are returning home to train a new generation.

“Canadians too often define themselves by the vastness of their landscape and their supposedly irreconcilable solitudes. Performing reciprocal concerts strengthens our sense of community while adding freshness and variety to the scene.”

“Opera Australia is planning a new event that will see it stage 22 performances on a barge floating in Sydney harbour. The six-week outdoor event will begin in March 2012.”