Symphony Supporters Hope To Tune Into New Generation Campaign Designed To Raise Money, Bring Classical Music To Younger Crowd
When Catherine Rafferty’s 86-year-old mother was young, the Spokane Symphony provided one of the few opportunities for “an evening of beauty and magic” in Spokane.
Today, as concertgoers zoom to The Gorge and symphony audiences grow grayer, Rafferty will manage a new campaign to raise $3.5 million to $4.5 million for the symphony’s endowment fund. She hopes to bring classical music to the next generations.
“There is so much more competition for a person’s Friday night than there used to be,” said Rafferty. “We (the symphony) may have missed a generation or two.”
The campaign is designed to protect the symphony’s $2.1 million budget from an unstable giving climate and allow it to grow for the grandchildren of present symphony-lovers.
In recent years, major corporations have merged or downsized, reducing previous support for local arts.
The Leuthold Foundation, a regular symphony supporter, has disbanded. Its funds are now being managed by Foundation Northwest, which can not guarantee it will continue the previous level of Leuthold support, said Peter Jackson, president of Foundation Northwest.
The Spokane Symphony’s grants from the National Endowment for the Arts have dropped from $21,000 annually to zero over the last two years.
In March, the Spokane County Commission balked at giving the symphony $17,000 from a tax on motel rooms. Commissioner Kate McCaslin suggested using the money to promote golf courses or the fairgrounds.
Two weeks later, after protests from symphony supporters, the county reversed its decision. McCaslin warned that the symphony must prove it benefits to the county before it will receive money next year.
At the same time, the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce estimates that the Spokane Symphony generates a $6.3 million impact on the local economy. It attracts tourists celebrating a holiday weekend with “The Nutcracker” and corporations seeking communities with strong cultural events.
When Reader’s Digest recently named Spokane as one of America’s top 10 cities to raise a family, the magazine listed the symphony as one of the reasons.
The symphony’s presence brings a cultural and artistic richness, not only to the Opera House but also to the larger community, said executive director Jonathan Martin.
Salaried symphony musicians, whose pay ranges from $8,222 to $16,444, supplement their income by teaching at local colleges and public schools. They may teach horn lessons after school or play in jazz trios at Hobart’s Lounge on weekends.
“It has a positive impact that reaches beyond the concert hall,” Martin said.
The Spokane Symphony took a hit in the weeks after the November ice storm. Martin said it faced a $75,000 to $100,000 shortfall, primarily from a lack of ticket sales.
A benefit concert with pianist Andre Watts in March initially raised between $7,500 and $8,000 - less than Martin had hoped. But the musicians’ willingness to donate their time inspired additional gifts. The symphony finally netted $14,000 to $15,000 on the concert.
Martin expects the symphony to end this year with a balanced budget.
Nationally, several major symphonies have struggled financially. San Diego no longer has a symphony. The orchestra in Sacramento went bankrupt last year.
Across the country, philanthropists have come under increasing pressure to donate to social causes such as hunger and homelessness, said Melinda Whiting, editor of SYMPHONY magazine, a publication of the American Symphony Orchestra League.
Many symphonies have launched endowment campaigns, she said.
These campaigns build a permanent fund that can be invested over the years. Long after present symphony supporters die, earnings from their donations can be funneled back into the orchestra’s annual operating budget.
The Spokane Symphony has a $5 million endowment fund. Previous endowment campaigns raised $1 million in 1980 and $2.2 million in 1987. Investment income and additional donations made up the remainder.
Last year, earnings from the endowment fund provided 15 percent of the symphony’s operating income, a total of $325,000.
Increasing the endowment will not only stabilize the symphony’s budget, but also allow it to grow, Martin said.
He hopes to expand programs that send professional musicians into public junior and senior high schools to provide supplemental music training - the key to building tomorrow’s symphony audience.
An estimated 75 percent to 80 percent of symphony audiences took music lessons as children, Rafferty said.
In fact, many of today’s older audience members played their way through big, red John Thompson piano books, memorizing classical melodies and studying the biographies of famous composers.
Their children grew up listening to the Beatles more than Beethoven, and, as adults, don’t necessarily buy symphony tickets or make donations.
“Baby boomers are making up their own mind as they go along, not necessarily jumping into the track of their parents,” said Jackson.
Across the country, symphonies search for new ways to appeal to the tastes of younger concertgoers.
In Philadelphia, an annual Halloween concert with the musicians wearing costumes has become popular, said Whiting. The Oregon Symphony has begun to play in brew pubs.
In Spokane, Martin notices a younger crowd of 30- and 40-year-olds attending the symphony’s less formal concerts at The Met.
Curious audience members crowded up to ask associate conductor Jung-Ho Pak simple questions about the orchestra after a recent concert there, Martin said.
“It’s a format that humanizes a concert experience,” he said. “For many people, that’s exactly what they want.
“For many other people, that’s exactly what they don’t want. They want a grand, royal, put-your-diamonds-on and get-dressed-up occasion and that’s exactly what the symphony does best,” Martin said.
, DataTimes