As a thank you to all of Nashville’s non-profit employees and volunteers, the Nashville Symphony is providing a special discount Jan. 21-23. Mention promo code 7121 to receive main floor seats for just $20 on January 21, 22 or 23 (regularly $85). This discount is available by phone at 615.687.6400, online at NashvilleSymphony.org and in person at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center Box Office.

More info on the concert:

Penderecki Comes to Nashville Jan. 21-23

Schermerhorn Symphony Center

Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has remained one of classical music’s most important and most talked-about figures for the past 50 years. Bold, resonant and deeply personal, his music has embraced an array of styles, from the expressive Romanticism of Richard Strauss to the bracing, energetic sounds of postwar modernism. He makes a rare visit to Nashville to conduct a specially chosen program that includes his Concerto for Piano “Resurrection,” a gripping, moving response to the events of 9/11. With a remarkable scope that recalls the symphonies of Mahler, but rendered in Penderecki’s singular voice, the work will feature the gifted pianist Barry Douglas. Penderecki will also lead the orchestra in Shostakovich’s alternately contemplative and lively Symphony No. 6.

Click here to learn more and watch a video preview for the concert.

Another challenged nonprofit is Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee, which teaches children business skills designed to help them develop careers, said Beth Torres, vice president for events and funding development.

“We’re still feeling the effects of the recession,” Torres said. “We don’t have a large base of individual donors, and our corporate giving is down enough that it makes a difference.”

Still, she said the number of volunteers working directly with kids is up, and that helps. “Now, if we could get our funding up, we could supply all of the demands,” Torres said.

Arts groups fare better

Some arts organizations appear to be weathering the recession better than social services groups, perhaps through skillful marketing.

At the Nashville Symphony, for instance, season ticket sales are up somewhat from last year, said Chief Executive Alan Valentine.

“Things have certainly eased up a bit from the crunch we experienced when this first happened,” Valentine said. “But we’re not anywhere close to things being back to where they were. Nor do we expect them to be anytime soon; that’s just the new fact of life. Contributions are still off, and are maybe worse this year than last.”

As with other local arts nonprofits, the symphony made significant budget cuts this year, while “trying to keep the quality of our programs high,” Valentine said.

“We can’t retreat from our core missions,” he added. “And we have to remember that even the Great Depression ended.”

“For institutions like us across the city, it’s a time for people who aren’t traveling as much to take advantage of what’s in their own backyard,” said Cheekwood President and CEO Jack Becker. Cheekwood’s paid attendance is 12 percent above where it was this time last year.

But whatever happens over the next few months, there will be little room for financial error. There’s widespread sentiment in the arts community that funding in all its forms is going to be scarce for the near future. “None of us believe things are going to be the way they were,” said the symphony’s Valentine.

Creative ways of selling tickets have become part of the plan for growing audiences in tough times.
The opera and the ballet, for example, have created flex programs that let ticket buyers buy vouchers for shows instead of committing to far-away dates. The Ballet is offering half-off tickets for children of season ticket subscribers.

“I really believe that one of the great things about people in general and people in Nashville is that we have a lot of ingenuity, and with every challenge is an opportunity,” said Andrea Dillenburg, director of the Nashville Ballet. “Our jobs are to find out how to take this mission we find ourselves in and make it something better.”

If you are feeling the pinch of your tightened budget during these tough times, then your ears might perk up to hear this sweet musical news.

Up until noon Thursday, Nashville Symphony fans can purchase tickets for the slashed price of $15 to the orchestra’s Friday night performance of Brahms’ “Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73.”

(Tickets usually run anywhere from $35 to $110 a piece.)

The 7:30 p.m. concert will also feature a performance of Joan Tower’s composition “Made in America,” which won three Grammy Awards in 2008, among them an award for Best Orchestral Performance by the Nashville Symphony.

Plus, Conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony doing “Symphony No.2 in D Major, Op. 73,” and Karen Gomyo will be featured on Max Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op 26.”

The $15 tickets can be yours by logging into nashvillesymphony.org or calling 687-6400 and using promo code 6415. The sale was meant as a 24-hour promotion, so hustle to make your purchase!

Nashville performing arts feel sting of recession

Falling donations spur budget cuts and layoffs

By G. Chambers Williams III
THE TENNESSEAN

Symphonies, opera and theater groups, and other performing-arts organizations are cutting budgets and laying off workers in Nashville and across the nation as ticket sales fall and contributions from big corporate donors dry up.

Arts groups traditionally depend heavily on contributions from community-minded businesses such as banks and other financial institutions, which themselves are hurting in the current economic climate, said René D. Copeland, the Tennessee Repertory Theatre group’s producing artistic director.

“It’s difficult in the not-for-profit industry in a way people might not think about,” she said. “Our customary sources of revenue are directly affected by what’s going on in the economy – discretionary spending, which affects ticket sales; the endowment money; and corporate philanthropy.

“When companies are no longer making the money they need to make, their giving is the first thing to go.”

While none of the Nashville Symphony’s 83 full-time musicians have lost their jobs or had to take pay cuts, the group already has trimmed some staff positions and cut $2.6 million from its $30 million budget for the coming fiscal year, said symphony Chief Executive Alan Valentine.

If the economy doesn’t turn around soon, the symphony might have to consider pay cuts for musicians and others on its 200-person payroll, Valentine said.

“Things are pretty tough,” he said. “The good news is that we have done very well with ticket sales in spite of the economy. But on the other side of the equation, contributions have slowed down, and we’ll likely miss our annual goal for contributed income.”

Also facing budget cuts and scrambling to find money to continue operations are such Nashville institutions as the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville Opera Association and others that depend on donors for key portions of their operating budgets.

As it is with most nonprofit performing-arts groups, ticket sales are a fraction of the symphony’s overall budget, Valentine said.

“We get a third of our money from tickets,” he said. “But another third comes from our endowment fund, which is way down along with the stock market, and the rest from contributors.”

To help the repertory theater, an anonymous donor recently offered a $100,000 “challenge” grant that would come only if the group could raise a like amount on its own. The campaign kicked off two weeks ago and is halfway toward its goal, but nothing is assured in this economy, Copeland said.

“If we don’t come up with the matching $100,000, I’m hoping we can negotiate to get at least part” of the challenge grant money, she said.

As with lots of other arts organizations, the theater group is using new technologies to help it get the word out about the fundraising campaign, including e-mail blasts and a YouTube video. The group has a PayPal account, so people can donate by computer without having to write and mail a check.

“The Tennessee Rep operates on a lean, efficient budget, $1.3 million this year, but since November, all of our revenue has been less than expected, including ticket sales and corporate giving,” Copeland said.

Nashville groups aren’t alone

The Nashville performing-arts groups are not alone; problems are occurring across the nation.

“This is an unprecedented situation, the first time it’s happened since nonprofits were created in the 1960s,” Copeland said. “Everyone is suffering, but because these organizations are not one large, centrally organized group, their problems don’t bubble up to the top of people’s awareness.”

Just last week, the Connecticut Opera announced that it was ending its operations after 67 years, and was too broke even to file bankruptcy. The group canceled its remaining performances for the season and said it would not be able to give patrons refunds for their tickets.

No Nashville groups appear to be in such dire straits yet, but unless the economy turns around soon, they could face severe cutbacks in their operations.

“It’s a challenging time for everybody,” said Carol Penterman, executive director of the Nashville Opera Association. “We have always operated very judiciously. That’s why we always operate in the black. As a result, I think we’re probably in better shape than some. But contributions are down 13 percent over last year, and ticket sales are down 10 percent. In response, we have been able to make cuts in expenses equivalent to the income losses.”

The opera group’s new fiscal year begins in August, and this next year is going to be an even bigger challenge, she said.

“I do think we are blessed to be in this city, particularly because the corporate base is health care, and it is not as much at risk as some of the other corporate entities,” Penterman said.

“But if people want to see their favorite arts organizations be here a year from now, they will have to help make sure that happens. We have to do our part, too, being fiscally responsible and looking for every opportunity to cut costs without sacrificing our mission.”

Performing-arts groups already were facing challenges before the recession hit, mainly because of all the competition they face as people decide how to spend their leisure time and entertainment dollars, said Peter Bird, executive director of the Nashville-based Frist Foundation, which has a long history of supporting the area’s arts organizations.

“My sense is that the public still appreciates the arts, but the problem is that the new symphony hall with its high-quality programming is competing with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, which brings excellent shows to town,” he said. “It’s competing with a host of other community groups producing good programs, and they’re all competing with things like the local hockey team and even high-definition television. Just as entertainment choices have proliferated, all of these arts groups are facing a struggle to prove they deserve that entertainment dollar.

“That competition was already taking place before the stock market cratered,” Bird said. “That has just made things tougher.”

Union may face pay cuts

While no pay cuts have been suggested yet for the symphony musicians, that possibility has occurred to them, said Laura Ross, who plays the violin in the orchestra and serves as steward of the Nashville Association of Musicians, the union that represents the performers.

“We started asking questions when we saw the stock market was tanking last fall,” she said. “We have three more years left on our contract, but if the economy does not come back up, we might have to look at opening the contract back up. If they ask us to, we will look at the symphony’s financial information and decide whether (pay cuts) are necessary.”

It won’t be easy for the musicians to take less money, she said. While the symphony jobs are considered full time, most members do outside work to make ends meet.

“We take other jobs as we can fit them in,” Ross said. “About half of us teach, either privately or at the universities in the area. Some take wedding and Sunday services gigs, and some even play in recording sessions.”

Those involved in the performing-arts groups have one thing in common, said Kathleen O’Brien, president and chief executive of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

“We’re all here because we’re mission-driven and we all have a passion for what we do,” she said. “That is a glue that helps us get through tough times. We know we make a difference in people’s lives.”

Music, the theater, opera and ballet all help salve the pain of an economic downturn, she said.

“We believe music has great power to lift spirits and help heal what hurts a community,” the symphony’s Valentine said. “What we offer is a wonderful night out and way to escape from worry and trouble. A night at the symphony is good medicine.

“But it’s also a reminder that we’re not alone; we’re all in this together,” he said. “This is bigger than all of us, and the only way to get through is by working together.”

Learn more about the upcoming season by tuning in to our first ever live video webcast at nashvillesymphony.org. Beginning at 1:30 p.m., Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero will answer questions about the 2009/10 season from the stage of Laura Turner Concert Hall. We welcome you to submit questions before and during the event by emailing askgiancarlo@nashvillesymphony.org or using this form. WPLN on-air host Will Griffin will moderate. If you are unable to tune in live, the webcast will be available for on-demand viewing in the near future.

With each new season, we strive to provide the very best in classical, pops, jazz and children’s programming. This upcoming season is no exception. We are absolutely thrilled about the concerts we have in store for you! Join us at Schermerhorn Symphony Center for the 2009/10 season.

And another, featuring Guerrero directing traffic in Franklin:

Giancarlo Guerrero makes his premier this Saturday at the beautiful Schermerhorn Symphony Center in an evening that will feature the music of George Gershwin. The Nashville City Paper has a story on the much anticipated opening night of the Nashville Symphony’s 2008/09 Season. The evening will also feature a performance by acclaimed pianist, and Gershwin specialist, Kevin Cole. The “All Gershwin Gala” is sold out, but you can check out the full season of the Nashville Symphony at www.nashvillesymphony.org.