Orchestra Reviewing Its Role
Shortfall In Sponsor Funding Leads To Cancellation Of Season's Final Concert
Last updated Thursday, March 27, 2008 9:11 PM CDT in News
By Sara Sullivan
The Morning NewsSPRINGDALE - On the same day it launched its new educational outreach program, the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra announced the cancellation of this season's final concert because funding from major sponsors fell through.
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"Without large sponsorships, we can't continue," said Jeannine Wagar, music director and conductor for the orchestra. "So we're just hunkering down, reassessing and trying to get our act together so we can come back."
The indefinite postponement of orchestra's sixth concert, "Pictures," makes 2007-08 the first season in the organization's 53-year history to be cut short, Wagar said.
"It's a huge loss," Wagar said. "This affects the whole community, I think in a pretty major way."
The North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra employs about 65 musicians - hailing mostly from Arkansas, but also Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. The musicians are paid per performance, including rehearsals and concerts. Usually only four rehearsals are needed before presenting a concert.
One-third of the orchestra's operating costs are provided through ticket sales, which were "much improved" over last year's admittedly weak season, said Aldee Marquis, general manager for the orchestra. "Being in the arts around here is a tough go," he said. "That's not to say people don't appreciate it."
But the other two-thirds of the nonprofit's funding must come through corporate and individual sponsorships and grants.
Wagar declined to name the sponsors whose funding negotiations fell through. "They want us to reassess," she said, "and make sure the community really needs us the way they used to."
She is certain they still do. "Music is one of the strongest of the fine arts." It enriches the soul, Wagar said, and a community needs it "as much as it needs an art center or a library. It's that important."
"But we have to reassess and make sure that we're going in the right direction."
Terri Trotter, vice president of external affairs for the Walton Arts Center, where the symphony holds concerts, said that many orchestras nationwide are conducting self-examinations to redefine the way they reach out to the public. "The good news is, symphonies across the country are doing well and figuring it out."
A vibrant symphony is good for a region, she said. "Music is a very important part of our culture," and music education for children is extremely important.
That will be the new focus of the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra as it backs away from big concerts and takes smaller ensembles into schools, like it did Thursday at Bellview Elementary School in Rogers, where about 300 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders watched a string quartet concert and asked questions. "We need to perform in venues around North Arkansas" by being "more portable, more affordable," Wagar said.
The board, staff and musicians at the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra are committed to making it a very strong and healthy organization, Wagar said.
"There's still a lot of people that love the orchestra, and I think we can make this work," Wagar said. "We just have to reorganize, restructure, reassess.
"I feel very positive about the future."
Reader Comments (2 comment(s))
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David Goza wrote on Aug 5, 2008 10:11 PM:
Those who championed this charlatan deserve exactly what they got. "
Not already registered?
casual_observer wrote on Mar 29, 2008 3:24 PM:
Those who wring their hands over the "injustice" of the situation should do a little checking with the American Symphony Orchestra League, concerning the appropriate allocation of an orchestra's monetary resources with respect to venue rental/upkeep, musicians' pay, and music director's salary and benefits. Please check it out. Ask some hard questions and figure the stats. NASO certainly should have - long ago. "