CSO has high hopes for gala concert

Charleston Symphony Orchestra management and musicians are back at the negotiating table discussing contractual concerns with the goal of resurrecting an organization that ceased operations in March when it ran out of money.

A breakthrough came earlier this month when the parties agreed to mount a one-time blowout Gala 75th Anniversary Concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium.

About 25 of the Charleston Symphony's core players will be augmented by freelance professional musicians from Atlanta, Jacksonville, Charlotte and possibly Miami and Cleveland, bringing the size of the orchestra to 90. Also on stage will be more than 160 singers from the CSO Chorus, CSO Gospel Spiritual Ensemble and College of Charleston Concert Choir. Concertmaster Yuriy Bekker, who took a one-year leave of absence to play with the Orlando Symphony, will return for the concert.

What will all these musicians be performing? Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The orchestra will play a first half featuring Shostakovich's Festive Overture and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol," two works meant to showcase talent within the group.

Stuart Malina, associate conductor of the Charleston Symphony 1993-97 and now music director of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania, will conduct the masses. (CSO Music Director David Stahl is on medical leave.) Malina has conducted a variety of music, made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2007 and shared a Tony Award for orchestration with Billy Joel for the musical "Movin' Out," which Malina helped create with director/choreographer Twyla Tharp.

The 75th Anniversary Concert Committee, quickly formed this summer as a way to bring the two sides together and demonstrate the value of the symphony to the community, hopes to raise $50,000 to fund the concert, according to committee Chairman Danny Beckley.

Ticket sales also will help pay the bill and could generate surplus income, which would help the organization get back on its feet, Beckley said.

"This effort is an act of good faith by both parties," he said. "By doing this concert, it brings us together and hopefully makes the negotiations easier."

The ambitious scope of the concert is meant to remind the city that its symphony can do marvelous things, Beckley added.

"The scale of this concert is going to be something Charleston hasn't seen in a long, long time," he said.

The city's Office of Cultural Affairs will act as fiscal agent for the defunct symphony organization and handle the marketing, though it will spend no public money on the event, Beckley said.

Cultural Affairs Director Ellen Dressler Moryl said it has been challenging to produce such a big event in a short time, but that it is important to remind the community about the critical role the symphony plays in the cultural life of the state. Besides, she said, it's a celebratory year.

"We couldn't let the 75th anniversary go by without some festive acknowledgment," Moryl said.

Tom Joyce, a bass trombone player in the symphony, is working with the Office of Cultural Affairs to produce the concert. It's his task to find the additional 65 musicians needed.

"Strong string players are the hardest thing to find in our area," he said.

The program also will feature a creative rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," arranged by former CSO trombonist Dave Miller, Joyce said.

Ryan Leveille, spokesman for symphony musicians, said the concert is "really to show people that we are still here. I think people are also hoping that it will be a good gauge of public support."

He said contractual negotiations started with a meeting shortly after Labor Day during which "a variety of subjects" were discussed.

The symphony season ground to a halt in March, when the last concerts of the season were canceled, staff was let go and operations ceased. The organization has been surviving by the skin of its teeth for years, struggling to avoid or limit deficits. It had reduced the size of its budget from about $2.8 million to $2.3 million, but insufficient fundraising and pressure from the 2008-09 recession proved to be too much to handle.

The talks could help ease months of accumulated resentment, Leveille said.

"We made some suggestions on what we think would be an acceptable salary, season length and number of players," he said.

Other topics were broached in general terms. Symphony management raised other concerns and promised to discuss the musicians' suggestions at its next board meeting on Sept. 22, according to Leveille.

"We indicated to them that we are certainly willing to talk about other contractual things, but the board needs to specify them," Leveille said. "I hope what they come back (with) can be a spur to further conversation."