Charleston Symphony planning concert to mark 75th

The Charleston Symphony Orchestra, dormant and still struggling, will try to organize a single concert for the beginning of what is supposed to be its 75th anniversary season in an effort to revitalize the ailing organization.

The board of directors voted at a July 13 meeting to support John Warren's motion to bring management and musicians together for a one-time event, to be held later this year.

Daniel Beckley, board member and chairman of the newly formed concert committee, said the group met Monday to discuss the single-concert idea and prepare a set of recommendations.

If successful, the concert will demonstrate to the symphony board, musicians and community that management and musicians can work together to accomplish a common goal and demonstrate that performances of classical music are essential to the cultural life of the city, he said.

"The goal of the concert committee ... is to investigate the feasibility of, and plan for, a single concert performed under the auspices of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, with the help of the city of Charleston and in partnership with the contract musicians," Beckley said in a statement.

The concert would be arranged outside the existing contractual relationship with the musicians.

The board meeting came as talk of a new chamber orchestra venture for Charleston buzzed through the music community.

The venture, which likely would rely on freelancers, not full-time employees, could undermine the symphony's ability to recover and survive, musicians and observers said.

Business matters

The idea for a one-time symphony concert was embraced after board President Ted Legasey emphasized that the organization's "run rate," or approximate financial capacity based on recent trends, required an annual budget of about $1.6 million, representing a cut of $800,000 from last year's budget of $2.4 million.

The symphony halted operations in March when it became apparent that it would not have enough cash on hand to finish the season.

Its actual expenses last season were about $2 million. It was able to continue into the spring thanks to two one-time memorial gifts equaling $522,000, money that is unlikely to materialize in the coming year, Legasey said.

In response to concerns over funding, violist Alex Agrest said the organization has been without a development director for years, and some funding from the community remains untapped.

"It's not true there are not enough resources," he said. "There are people in town who would raise money on contingency or free" -- arts management students at the College of Charleston, for example. And many smaller donors could help bolster the budget, Agrest said. "We've never approached these people."

Legasey agreed that any fundraising campaign requires a broad approach, but added that most of the money comes from only a few large donors.

He said the symphony is missing two key fundraising ingredients: "a credible story" that convinces the public of the soundness of the organization, something that cannot be achieved until the dispute with musicians is resolved and a season is scheduled; and a "credible fundraising organization," which depends on the leadership of a qualified development director.

Legasey said that position has remained open and funded for two years, but no suitable applicants have been found.

"We've failed to hire a development director, and that failure is on our shoulders, but it isn't because we didn't try," he said. "We're not going to get a credible fundraiser until the business model is square."

Musician spokesman Ryan Leveille, principal percussionist with the symphony, said Legasey had "strongly insinuated" that the musicians were to blame for the contractual impasse.

"That's not true," Leveille said, objecting to what he called an ever-moving budget target and the use of fundraising as a "sword of Damocles hanging over the musicians to force concessions."

Earlier this year, the musicians rejected a proposal for an interim agreement that would have applied only to the 2010-11 season and would have cut wages drastically but brought the symphony budget in line with the "run rate."

Legasey admitted that the dialogue between management and musicians was, at best, "point-counterpoint" rather than a productive give-and-take. "We have failed to figure out how to discuss things."

Perception issues

Some in the community have suggested that any reorganization depends on wiping the slate clean and starting over.

"The current business model has proven over 10 years not to be viable," said John Dinkelspiel, a former board member and arts advocate. "The question we have to ask then is, is there another model for having classical music in Charleston that might work?"

Edward Hart, a composer who has collaborated with the Charleston Symphony and who teaches at the College of Charleston, said everyone deserves some blame for the symphony's financial woes.

Both management and musicians have been too stubborn and the public has failed to appreciate the nature of the organization, he said.

Too often the arts are dismissed as a luxury, yet someone has to teach in the schools, offer private lessons, play at weddings and special events, draw patrons to the festivals and fill the seats in Charleston's performance spaces.

"There are perception issues," he said, "such as being an orchestra musician is not a real full-time job."

It's a view that's possibly shared by some within the symphony organization, Hart said.

If professional musicians are not properly valued, "they're going to walk," he said. "The level of talent (in the community) will be diminished. Those who remain will be a pickup band."

Expressing concern about a possible new chamber music group in Charleston, he added, "Professional orchestras have a clear advantage over per-service orchestras in the level of talent and the fact that they can rehearse together (regularly). Orchestras have a sound and they cultivate it."

Symphony management has said it hopes to avoid bankruptcy and protracted disagreement with musicians, but the current impasse and the timetable for evaluation and reorganization cast doubt on the effort to present a regular 2010-11 season.

The Charleston Symphony is one of several orchestras struggling financially.

In March, the Honolulu Symphony ceased operations and declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to reorganize.

Earlier this year, The Philadelphia Orchestra faced an $8 million budget deficit, significant enough to spark talk of bankruptcy, though it appears the group will avoid that drastic step, thanks to fundraising efforts and musicians' concessions, according to news reports.

The orchestra also has seen an attendance decline of about 20 percent that is threatening its bottom line.

A series of forums meant to gauge public support for the Charleston Symphony concluded last month. Comments and recommendations are being assembled for a steering committee that will meet three times in August to produce a set of recommendations for the CSO board.

Those recommendations are to be submitted in September and followed by negotiations and, if warranted, a formal plan for the season.

Hart said it's wrongheaded to ask whether the community is willing to support the symphony when the symphony has spent years without a development director.

He said that, as a Charleston native with many friends in the business community, he has asked several people who run small companies if they have ever been approached by symphony fundraisers. He said they have told him, "Never."

"(CSO administrators) have relied on the same small pool of donors forever," he said. "They keep trying to hit home runs when they should be hitting doubles."

Limping along

Gerry Katz, a symphony patron concerned about the survival of the organization, said the city of Charleston ought to take control of the ailing orchestra, lending it the money it needs to run a season or two, develop a new business model and regain its footing. After stability has been achieved, it can pay back the city, Katz said.

Any significant reorganization would necessarily change or nullify the existing master agreement and require the majority approval of unionized musicians.

A unilateral change could prompt legal action. Already musicians have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, arguing the operational shutdown violated the terms of the contract.

Ellen Dressler Moryl, director of the city of Charleston's Office of Cultural Affairs and a member of the symphony board, said any solution would require a revamped master agreement, successful development director, vision for the future of classical music in the community, commitment to education and organization staffed with people who have a passion for the product.

"It would be a shame to see the symphony in its 75th year be faced with an unviable future," she said, adding that she is wary of any competing musical organization that might divert financial support from the symphony.

"We need to direct our energy and our focus on helping the symphony, and to do otherwise is not the right thing."

Board member Libby Smith said the symphony's financial position is not as grim as some are depicting it.

It succeeded in raising $1.4 million last season, and it has no debt, she said. Many board members do not contribute significant amounts, she said.

When she told colleagues she would increase her financial contribution to $10,000 and recommended a telephone campaign to get other board members to make similar short-term commitments, the idea wasn't embraced, she said.

Citing Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and an expert at turning around ailing arts organizations, Smith said four things are needed:

"We need a strong executive director, a fundraising staff, an artistic director and we need a board that's focused on policymaking and fundraising."

The symphony has none of these, she said.

"We're limping along with none of the tools to (sustain) a strong orchestra. As board members, how can we not feel we've failed here?"

Beckley said the board was committed to identifying options that management and musicians could consider in their effort to find a long-term solution.

Charleston is not the only community to risk losing its premier classical music provider, he said. At least Charleston is a cultural center with its share of arts advocates.

"Symphonies big and small are having problems," Beckley noted. "That said, I cannot think of a better community to have a symphony orchestra."

Reach Adam Parker at 937-5902 or aparker@postandcourier.com.