Where Most Needed

A blogger after my own heart, Drew McManus writes about symphony orchestra management almost daily.  He just provided an update on the six symphony orchestras that stopped playing in the 2002-2003 downturn.  It's definitely a mixed bag, with only one survivor (operating at a much lower level than previously), two successor orchestras, and a third that plans a fall season this year. 

• Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra – reorganized to Colorado Springs Philharmonic (EIN 74-3091110 Form 990)
• Florida Philharmonic Orchestra – no successor in sight.  In bankruptcy, ticket holders are being paid in full for performances that never happened, while musicians are receiving $0.22 on the dollar in bankruptcy.  The Cleveland Orchestra will be in residence starting January 2007.
• San Antonio Symphony – Despite bankruptcy, remains in operation (EIN 74-1185669 Form 990) The musicians of the San Antonio Symphony have a web page and this story from the San Antonio Express News describes the retrenchment that the musicians underwent going from 39 weeks to 26 weeks of pay.
• San Jose Symphony has been replaced by the Symphony Silicon Valley (EIN 32-0083030 Form 990)
• Savannah Symphony Orchestra – no replacement.
• Tulsa Philharmonic, defunct since 2002, is being replaced by a new Tulsa Symphony Orchestra organized in October, 2005, so too new for a Form 990.  It has a website, it just held a gala in early May, and plans to announce a fall schedule. 

So in this case, the history doesn't support the superficial analysis that charities uniformly rebounded after 9/11 and the stock market crash.  In this case, none recovered completely, some have had a revival of sorts, and some are still missing. 

We're still looking for the honest assessment of the impact of Katrina on charities.