Blue Box Pass, southeast of Mt. Hood
Heather and I went to Bend for a winter retreat, and in spite of some rain for the first day or so, we were lucky to have gotten some nice snow on our last day. We’re playing in the Harvey Rosenkranz Orchestra with Pink Martini this New Year’s Eve – there may be an update from those shows after the new year hits.
It’s that time of year when the blog goes on a brief hiatus for the holiday week. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
See you next year!
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The Oregonian reports that Oregon Symphony and the other major arts organizations in Portland have managed to stay in the black in this tough year, largely due to belt-tightening in their budgets.
For the first time in five years, the Oregon Symphony balanced its budget, although the exact numbers won’t be known until an audit in September, said Carl Herko, a symphony spokesman. In the past three years, the Oregon Symphony posted deficits of $1.5 million (2007), $594,000 (2008) and $488,000 (2009). The orchestra has balanced its budget only four times in the past 20 years. Salary cuts to orchestra musicians and staff, furloughs, lower fees to guest artists and fewer marketing costs reduced the symphony’s most recent budget to $14 million, $1 million less than the previous year.
In addition to budget cuts, donations helped push the orchestra into surplus territory, including three gifts over $250,000 each. On the downside, ticket revenue fell $1.1 million from last year, due partly to four fewer performances. The number of paying customers per performance dropped 11.9 percent.
David Stabler has the complete news here. Continue reading