Salt Lake’s Utah Symphony & Opera has taken a step back from financial ruin. “In March, managers acknowledged that US&O had run up deficits of $3.4 million after the merger of the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera in 2002. Administrators used private donations to keep US&O from dipping into endowment funds. The US&O board responded with a three-year plan to get back on track. US&O has made progress in cutting costs and raising revenues. The organization ended fiscal year 2005 on Aug. 31 with a deficit of $312,000, beating a target of $571,000 in the red. Revenues from contributions were $6 million, squeaking in at just $500 more than the organization’s goal.”
Tag: 09.27.05
No Orchestra, Savannah Musicians Leave
Since the Savannah Symphony folded three years ago, half of its musicians have left the city. “Of the 38 musicians who made up the orchestra, 19 have left the area. The financially-strapped orchestra succumbed to bankruptcy in 2003.”
Dancers Need A Wellness Team
Dancers face more physical challenges than athletes. So in 2001 New York City Ballet formed a wellness team to work with its dancers. “From 2000 to 2003, the number of major workers’ compensation claims made by City Ballet dancers fell 24 percent, to 29, and the weeks of disability logged by company dancers fell 46 percent, to 231. The number of ballets performed in a season and the intensity of the company’s touring schedule can affect injury levels, but since the wellness program began, costs have gone down.”
Debating Google Print
Some publishers are complaining that Google’s print project violates their copyrights. But Google believes it has enough restrictions on searches that copyright is not in danger. “Under Google’s strictures, readers can see just five pages at a time of publisher-submitted titles — and no more than 20 percent of an entire book through multiple searches. For books in the public domain, they can read the entire book online. Not all publishers are opposed.”
A Night Of Free Theatre For All
Are ticket prices a deterrent to going to the theatre? October 20 has been declared National Free Night of Theatre day and the Bay Area is one of three cities testing out the idea. “The idea is to attract new audiences and to reward the curious and faithful as well. Participants cover the spectrum from the highest-profile companies to a host of midsize and small groups. Theatre Bay Area, affectionately known as TBA (for obvious reasons), has announced the availability of more than 4,000 free seats that evening at more than 70 large and small companies.”
Sony: Help Wanted
Think Sony is abandoning classical music? Naw. The label is advertising in a magazine for children for a new classical band. “Are you the next Aled Jones or Charlotte Church? One of the UK’s biggest record labels is looking for boys and girls aged 10-14 to form the next classical crossover band.”
New Leaders For Corporation For Public Broadcasting
Cheryl F. Halpern, a New Jersey lawyer and real estate developer, has been elected chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “The board also elected another conservative, Gay Hart Gaines, as its vice chairman. Gaines, an interior decorator by training, was a charter member and a chairman of GOPAC, a Republican fundraising group. With the changes, conservatives with close ties to the Bush administration have assumed control of every important position at the agency, which distributes about $400 million in federal funds to noncommercial radio and TV stations and is supposed to act as a buffer against outside political influence.”
A Michael Brown For CPB?
Cheryl Halpern, newly elected as chairwoman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is a major Republican fundrasier. “Ms. Halpern, on the corporation board since 2002 and previously chairwoman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, has criticized National Public Radio’s Mideast coverage, calling it biased against Israel. Her family has business interests there. At her confirmation hearing two years ago, Ms. Halpern suggested that journalists in public broadcasting be punished for editorializing.”