{"id":1039,"date":"2008-07-25T16:00:56","date_gmt":"2008-07-25T23:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2013-02-07T19:00:31","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T03:00:31","slug":"editorial-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/07\/25\/editorial-license\/","title":{"rendered":"editorial license"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doubtless, many of you have seen (care of ArtsJournal.com<\/a> and other online sources) the latest Portland Business Journal<\/a> article about the imminent death of the Oregon Symphony.  Well, the OSO is hardly dying, and to paraphrase an old saw, the reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n

Most publications have editors that, among other things, write the headlines for their featured stories.  In this case, they could have very accurately written something like “Oregon Symphony Pulling Back from the Brink”, which would put a positive spin on the story (which seemed hastily written and omitted a number of key facts), and more accurately portray what, in fact, is happening at the Oregon Symphony.<\/p>\n

But, as David Stabler observed today over at his blog<\/a>, the view that the sky is falling sells more papers, or gets more eyeballs on web pages, than saying things aren’t great, but they’re getting better.<\/p>\n

But beyond the inaccuracies, my objection to the story is its alarmist tone. It’s not news<\/a> that symphony orchestras are financially challenged. What is news is how they’re coping in this horrible economic climate. We won’t know much until something like a major donor backs out. Or ticket sales slow. Or a foundation turns down a grant.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m quite frankly tired of the “if it bleeds, it leads” media mentality, even from such typically non-sensationalist sources as the Portland Business Journal.  I’d love to know what motivated the article, the stance that it took on the issues facing the orchestra, and who, if anyone, still has an axe to grind against the Oregon Symphony’s board and leadership.  Editors don’t just wake up one morning and say to themselves, “hey, I think we need to do a piece on the imminent death of the largest arts organization in our city”, without some sort of prompting.  Maybe I’m just being a bit on the conspiracy theory end of the spectrum with this, but there seem to be some sour grapes somewhere that are keeping the trickle of negative press on the Oregon Symphony.<\/p>\n

Here’s a response prepared by OSO President Elaine Calder and OSO Board President Walter Weyler, which will be mailed out to all major donors next Monday:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Over the course of the past twelve months we have:
\n 
\nReduced our overhead expenses by another 3.2% – so that we spent $1 million less on administrative, artistic and interest expenses than we did only two years ago;
\n 
\nBeen awarded a $1 million unconditional grant from the Miller Foundation as well as major, two-year grants from the Murdock Trust and the Ford Family Foundation;
\n 
\nReceived $2.1 in annual fund support from 26 members of our Sustainability Campaign \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in total, $1 million more than they gave in the previous year;
\n 
\nIncreased our income from performances by almost 19% and achieved a 40% improvement to our concert net income;
\n 
\nReduced our operating loss on the season to less than $600,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an overall improvement of more than $1 million dollars.
\n 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In addition,
\n 
\nPaid attendance at our Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall performances has increased from 54% in 2006\/07 to 62% in 2007\/08;
\n 
\nMusic Director Carlos Kalmar\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contract has been extended through June 2013, in recognition of the tremendous improvement he has made to the quality of our orchestral concerts;
\n 
\nFour distinguished members of our community have been recruited to our board:  William Early, Richard Geary, Ren\u00c3\u00a9e Holzman and Karl Smith;
\n 
\nPrudent management by the Oregon Symphony Foundation board, the Oregon Community Foundation and professional advisors has largely protected the $26 million we hold in endowment and board restricted funds through a period of stock market instability; and
\n 
\nThe Oregon Symphony Association in Salem reports increased sales and improved financial results as well, in part because of a closer co-operation between our two managements.
\n 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are very aware that a one-year improvement does not constitute a trend, and that some of the easiest and most obvious decisions have now been taken.  And we have not yet come close to breaking even.  Next year and in succeeding seasons it will be harder to achieve such significant improvements.  Controlling our overhead expenses will always be difficult, especially as these figures include our musicians who have long been under-compensated in comparison with orchestras elsewhere in the country, and who are now facing higher costs of living in this community.  Sustaining our current annual fund levels in a shrinking economy is also a challenge.  However, we believe that if we continue to program carefully, listen to our audiences and manage our inventory wisely, we can gradually refill many of the currently-empty seats at the Schnitz.  And we must retain the confidence of our Sustainability Campaign donors and give thought to our endowment fund \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the long-term solution to a big part of our structural deficit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doubtless, many of you have seen (care of ArtsJournal.com and other online sources) the latest Portland Business Journal article about the imminent death of the Oregon Symphony.  Well, the OSO is hardly dying, and to paraphrase an old saw, the reports of our demise are greatly exaggerated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[103,25,2],"tags":[3668],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fundraising","category-portland","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-oregon-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-gL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2921,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/07\/29\/how-oregon-is-the-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":1039,"position":0},"title":"how ‘oregon’ is the oregon symphony?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"After reading David Stabler's story yesterday on the cutting of the Oregon Symphony's nationally-renowned Community Music Partnership, which provided a year-long musical interaction between OSO musicians and a different rural community each year, I've been pondering the following question: should the Oregon Symphony still be called the Oregon Symphony?\u00a0 We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "education"","block_context":{"text":"education","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"oregon-map","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/oregon-map-400x255.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3256,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/13\/great-deal-for-symphony-goers\/","url_meta":{"origin":1039,"position":1},"title":"great deal for symphony goers","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're from out of the Portland metro area and want to have a great night at a great hotel the night after a great evening at the symphony, the Modera Hotel has a new Oregon Symphony package:","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Symphony Flyer (2)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Symphony-Flyer-2-400x517.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":495,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/10\/17\/losing-ground\/","url_meta":{"origin":1039,"position":2},"title":"losing ground?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"David Stabler reports this morning that the Oregon Bach Festival will open its 2008 season by performing a concert (Bach's B-minor Mass) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland.\u00c2\u00a0 What next?\u00c2\u00a0 Will the Eugene Symphony start a series in the Oregon Symphony's home hall?\u00c2\u00a0 The Seattle Symphony?\u00c2\u00a0 It's frustrating,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7510,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/04\/17\/two-mini-bombshells\/","url_meta":{"origin":1039,"position":3},"title":"two mini bombshells","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 17, 2012","format":"aside","excerpt":"Just learned of these two news items in the local Portland classical scene via the always excellent Oregon ArtsWatch: Huw Edwards, conductor of the Portland Columbia Symphony for the past 12 seasons, will resign his position effective the end of this season. Huw has been a nearly constant presence in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2950,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/05\/oregon-symphony-education-programs-not-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":1039,"position":4},"title":"oregon symphony: education programs not dead","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to inquiries that resulted from David Stabler's article about the suspension of the OSO's widely lauded Community Music Partnership program, the symphony's development department released the following statement of clarification: To our Foundation and Government Supporters: Last week, this article ran in the Oregonian (see link to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "education"","block_context":{"text":"education","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2229,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/24\/how-much-orchestra-can-portland-afford\/","url_meta":{"origin":1039,"position":5},"title":"how much orchestra can portland afford?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Can Portland afford the Oregon Symphony as it currently exists? There - that's the elephant in the room.\u00c2\u00a0 The question that is probably on everyone's lips who has a real stake in keeping the Oregon Symphony a vital and powerful force in the cultural scene of Oregon and the Pacific\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fundraising"","block_context":{"text":"fundraising","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fundraising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}